


The World We're From

by imuffinator



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Also it's a slower Mabifica buildup than you'd expect ; u;, But they can be dorks with each other, F/F, F/M, M/M, My reverse twins aren't as crazy as most people's, Reverse Pines, Yee first fanfic on here, a cameo later on too if I get that far, amullamas - Freeform, as for Gid and Paz well they're themselves haha, mabifica, there are many minor relationships here as well, tho they're still pretty cold
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3132725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imuffinator/pseuds/imuffinator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gleeful Twins are known to be Gravity Fall's renowned celebrities and occult experts, so when Gideon and Pacifica start unraveling secrets and attracting supernatural attention to themselves, they take notice. In Mabel's case, in more ways than one. With the return of an old foe and a secret hidden deep within Gravity Falls, how will the four teens fare?  (Reverse Pines AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let it Begin

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing a Rev Pines fic. Kind of excited, hope I can pull through and find motivation to finish chapter 2!  
> This has been buried in my documents and I've been picking at it since September, enjoy!

If someone were to ask Mabel Gleeful what she thought of her hometown, she'd reply that it was "tiny, boring, and a waste of space."

Compared to the flashing lights of The Big Orange, the Risqué partying scene of the City of Sin, and the exhilarating ventures in the City that Never Sleeps, Gravity Falls was nothing special.

In fact, it was a backwater town in Oregon that wasn't  _completely_ invisible because of her family.

Mabel wasn't one to brag (often), but her family was well-known around the country. Hell, she'd go as far as saying the world.

Ever since they were children, she and Dipper had been doing work on mysticism and the likes. Nothing like the crap that the con man up the mountain tried to sell at the ratty old building he dubbed the "Mystery Shack".

The twins had just returned from their latest trip. So Mabel was in her room unpacking. They'd been on a rather  _interesting_  adventure in Hawaii. It'd been child's play to milk money from the many unsuspecting locals and tourists. That and Hawaii had its own share of occult secrets hiding in the forests so that had made the trip more worthwhile.

Mabel tossed another bundle of clothes onto her bed as the door slammed open. Dipper's teal eyes scanned the room until they met her own.

"Why are  _you_ unpacking? We have people for that," he said and then poked his head out into the hallway.

Mabel stared down at the items on her bed and frowned. The only reason she'd bothered with doing it herself was because she wanted open them up herself. There was no way filthy hands were touching them before she did.

One of the maids cautiously filed into the room, her eyes were fixated on the ground in an attempt to avoid looking at either of them. When Mabel noticed the fear on her face, she made a quick decision. As long as the packages weren't opened that'd technically be fine,  _right?_  Her mouth curved into a small smirk and she looked at what she had already taken out.

"I guess you're  _right_ , Dipper. How  _silly_ of me," she answered with slight distaste.

In one fell swoop, she pushed what she'd already unpacked back into her bag, leaving it messier than it had been before.

She basked in the sight of watching the maid's face fall before she noticed her brother gesturing for her to follow. Mabel happily complied and stretched her arms as she took off after him. Constantly traveling was a lot of fun, but she was just seventeen and it took its toll.

"We need to go to the broadcasting station to make sure they start airing our commercials for the Tent ASAP. Wendy said that they were being difficult so we need to _persuade_  them a little to make sure it goes smoothly," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, but the mischievous gleam in his eyes indicated otherwise.

The Tent of Telepathy was where they performed their "tricks". If there was one thing that Mabel took pride in, it was the tent that held their deepest secrets. It was the one place where she could truly be herself- well, most of the time.

A knowing smirk made its way onto the brunette's lips before she followed her brother down the stairs and to the front door. The mansion that had housed them for years was pretty spacious, but since they rarely spent time in it anymore, it just felt like a place to stay.

The Gleefuls were descended from the founder of Gravity Falls and their inheritance had increased over the years leaving them filthy rich.

Not only that, but compared to the rest of their family, the twins were like idols and considered to be extremely attractive, brilliant, and gifted.

Save for Dipper's reddish nose and her rosy cheeks, the two were almost identical and it wasn't until Mabel grew her hair out so it reached down to her waist and puberty started to work its magic that the differences between the two became prominent. Her brother who used to cover his birthmark (which was the reason for his nickname) now openly exposed it by slicking his bangs to the side.

Mabel adjusted her headband which had a gleaming teal amulet on it and saw that her brother was sporting his own around his neck. They weren't wearing their performing clothes, but Mabel had them all ironed out and ready to go for whenever her brother decided to practice.

 _Sometimes it's a wonder that we get our powers from this little trinket._  She thought to herself while fiddling with the ribbon that was attached to the jewel.

When they were younger and more innocent, they had struck a deal with a demon to allow them to activate their powers without touching the amulets. One of the consequences from wearing them was that their eyes were a bright shade of teal, but it helped distinguish them from common folk, so obviously they preferred to keep them on.

 _Appearances mean everything after all._  Mabel thought and took the time glance down at her manicured nails only to pick at the ones with chipped polish. She'd have to ask Grenda and Candy to go with her to the mall sometime soon.

"Ah if it isn't my two favorite people! The Telepathy Twins."

Mabel's head turned to the side when she heard a raspy chuckle only to wrinkle her nose in distaste as she watched two people approach. By looking at their clothes, she assumed that they had returned from their daily business dealings.

"Hello...Stan," Mabel curtly replied; her eyes then flickered over to the other man who nodded his greeting. "Soos."

"Wow, the sun did wonders for you two. Yeesh, I'm glad to know I'm not looking at two pasty ghosts anymore," Stan laughed as he walked over to Dipper and placed a hand on his head in order to ruffle his hair. "You've developed nice tans."

As he spoke, Mabel took note that Stan was wearing a pink tropical shirt with yellow flowers with khakis  _and_  socks with  _sandals._ It took all her willpower to keep her from visibly cringing.

Sure, Stanford 'Stan' Gleeful was their great-uncle and the one who played the role of guardian because their parents were always out and about doing whatever is that they did to help boast and glorify the Gleeful name, but wow, sometimes she was embarrassed to be related to him.

Besides being their sort of manager (that was actually Wendy's job), he owned a factory that made merchandise and a used car dealership on the side.

Soos, who lived with them, was an employee at the factory and the tent of telepathy. Unlike Stan, he was dressed in a teal suit and had his hair neatly slicked back.

Mabel bet that if someone were to put the two men side by side and compare them, there'd be no doubt in her mind that they'd think Soos was the business owner. Sometimes she wondered how her Grunkle could run a business when he couldn't even dress himself.

"Hey Stan, we're gonna head over to Medford to clear up some issues. Now that we're back in town we want everyone to know that the Tent of Telepathy will start up again soon for the summer," Dipper stated; he glanced down in an attempt to hide his reddening cheeks." Wendy said there were some problems or something and we're running late. We'll see you later."

Mabel watched him move to open the limo door and silently laughed to herself. She knew that Dipper was anxious to get to the station because he was excited to see Wendy. They'd been separated for a good month and she knew he had been preparing himself to resume his "not failing as badly as he used to" courting.

 _Well, he has"been in love" with her since he was twelve._  She thought to herself and followed her brother into the vehicle.

"Will you two be back for dinner? Soos is making his world famous mystery meat tacos!" Stan heartily chuckled.

"You don't have to be so kind, sir. It's my job to cook for the family on allocated family nights and special events," Soos dutifully replied.

"I've already told you many times, boy, call me Stan."

Soos looked rather taken back and loosened up his stiff form. He cleared his throat, a light blush dusted his cheeks.

"A-alright then Si- Stan."

"That's the spirit! You're one step closer to-"

Mabel rolled her eyes and slammed the limo door shut. Stan had been trying to get the man to not be so strict with his duties for the longest time, it'd be cute if it was anyone but her annoying relative.

The second that the two were alone, Dipper began his rant.

"I forgot how irritating our dear  _great-uncle_ can be. We're going to have to deal with him for the rest of the summer," he groaned as he used his phone's camera to try to fix up his hair.

Mabel reached over and opened one of the coolers. She grabbed a bottle of water and made herself comfortable in her seat.

"Well, he  _is_ family. Sometimes you just have to deal with them… no matter how annoying they are," she coolly replied and stared out the window.

Mabel took a sip of her drink, her eyes not leaving their home until it faded into the scenery as they entered the mountainous region of Gravity Falls. There was a moment of silence until she heard Dipper snicker.

"Yeah, you're right, I have to put up with  _you_ all the time."

Mabel didn't hesitate in uncapping her bottle and pouring half of its content on her brother's lap. Dipper paused his hair grooming, glanced down at the wet mess, and then looked over at her with a shocked expression.

"Oops, looks like you peed yourself bro, I'd go change pants if I were you," she sneered.

"Why I oughta-"

Dipper's face went from surprised to mischievous as he stole the water bottle from her hands. Mabel grasped her brother's arm in an attempt to prevent him from dousing her with water.

"Haha, Dipper, stop!" She laughed, her arms pushed against his, but she felt a few drops trickle down her arm.

Little did she know that the amulet around Dipper's neck had started to glow. She didn't notice her brother was using his powers for a sneak attack until she felt something wet drip onto her hair and felt rivulets of cool water stream down her face.

Mabel squealed and pushed her brother's hand enough to have the water bottle tip back onto him.

"Two can play at that game, dear brother," she grinned and focused all her energy to summon the water bottles on her side of the vehicle.

The limousine was filled with the sound of laughter and splashing as the two continued uncapping bottles and flinging water at each other. The chauffeur merely closed up the window that separated him from them and prayed that they'd reach the station soon.

* * *

 

**o~ The World We're From ~o**

 

Meanwhile…

A bus packed to the brim with tourists pulled up to an old log cabin that was at least twenty minutes away from the rest of the town. A large mass of people scrambled out of the bus, leaving a rather tiny thirteen year old to be the last one out.

Gideon Pines looked around at the vast expanse of forest around him and kicked a pebble on the ground in frustration.

His parents had gotten a divorce a few years ago and his mom had forced him to leave Texas and do "something more productive with his life than sit around and play video games all summer".

So here he was, in his father's home town, looking forward to spending  _all_ summer working in the shop that had catalyzed the divorce.

Gideon tugged his ratty brown cap over his bushy white hair and sighed. He figured that he might as well get this over with and go see his dad.

God knows he'd need company if this was the only house for miles.

Gideon made his way to the entrance of the Mystery Shack and surveyed its interior. The shelves were full of merchandise and various doohickeys tagged with prices that looked way higher than they were worth.

How people could be so stupid as to believe that the three-eyed deer on the pedestal was real, he'd never know. You could  _clearly_ see that the third eye was glued on!

"Hey you, shorty with the freckles, are you gonna buy something or just stand there gawking like an idiot."

Gideon turned at the sound of the voice and found himself staring at a pair of blue jeans. He glanced up and found himself looking at a tall man with neatly combed black hair.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just looking for my Pa," he stammered as the boy's beady black eyes scrutinized him.

He had always been short for his age, but right now the height difference between them was making him uncomfortable. On further examination, Gideon saw that the boy's name tag read 'Robbie'.

"Oh, you must be the kid that's supposed to be coming in today," Robbie said and jabbed his thumb in the direction of a staircase, "Bud's upstairs putting on a show for these tourists."

"T-thank you, I appreciate your help. Wow, maybe y'all up here aren't as stupid as I thought you'd be seeing that you're living in the middle of nowhere and all," Gideon twanged.

He quickly placed his hands over his mouth when he realized what he had said could be taken as an insult and was shocked to find that instead of looking angry, Robbie looked mildly pleased.

"Well, so far you're exceeding my expectations, country boy. Try not to get on my bad side though, got it?" Robbie replied with a half-threat.

Gideon nodded and watched him walk behind the counter. He decided not to embarrass himself further and quickly made his way upstairs. Once he was up there, he found that his dad had attracted a lot of people and that he couldn't even see the man in front of the crowd that had gathered. Though there was a really loud voice booming that Gideon assumed was his.

"And now you've seen her folks, the legendary weregirl! Half-wolf, half-human, she's one of the rarest of her species since she has yellow fur!"

The crowd ooh'd and ahh'd as the sound of cameras shutters clicking filled the vicinity. Gideon tried to squeeze through gaps and get to the front. When he got close enough, he saw his dad dressed in a black suit with a red fez. Beside him was the "weregirl" and Gideon once again found himself wondering how gullible these people were to believe that this girl was really half-wolf.

"Well, that's all I have for you today folks, but if you come again tomorrow you might see the legendary albino merman that's being reeled in!" Bud laughed while holding out a tip jar that was nearly filled to the brim.

As the crowd cleared up, Gideon walked up to his father and smiled nervously. When Bud's eyes finally met his, he walked over and gave him a rather hard pat on the back.

"Ah, if it isn't my boy, Lil Giddy! You're an hour late," Bud said as he wagged an accusing finger.

"I'm sorry Pa'. The bus ran late and then there was waay too much traffic 'cause people were stoppin' to gawk at a passin' limo," Gideon apologized while trying not to let his embarrassment at the nickname show.

"Well, you start officially working tomorrow. Once Tambry gets back with those cleaning supplies, you can help Pacifica over there clean up the mess she made," Bud stated.

It was then that Gideon took notice of the "weregirl" again. She had left sometime after the crowd scattered and changed into a purple knit sweater that was a bit too big for her and a pair of black leggings. The blonde girl was at least a foot taller than him, but something about her just seemed comforting and friendly.

He was so busy scrutinizing her that he didn't notice she had squealed and ran over to tackle him in a hug.

"Oh my gosh,  _you're_ the new worker? You're  _so_ adorably short! How's your hair  _so_ white? Is it natural? Wow, I can't believe we're gonna work together at the shack! Trust me, it's going to be grea-" The blonde girl babbled away.

"Calm down there, Pacifica, you don't want to scare him," Bud interrupted.

The girl, Pacifica, pulled away and flashed Gideon a sorry smile before bouncing excitedly in her place.

Bud smiled at the gesture and continued, "She just moved into town a few months ago. She spent so much time up at the shack that I figured 'Why not let her volunteer? A sixteen year old has to make an impact on society somehow, so why not start by aiding a helpless old man'."

Bud began to raucously laugh at his own joke," Aw, that was classic. Helpless old man, haha, good one, Bud."

When neither of the teens said anything, he cleared his throat and his face became serious again.

"I'm going to head downstairs. You two do whatever it is that kids do, but try not to break anything. I'll see you two later."

Gideon watched the dressed up man approach the stairs; he then returned his attention to the girl next to him.

"So...uh, Bud said you've been here for a few months... How was the move?" He said as slowly as he could, but felt stupid for how awkward it sounded. His squeaky accented voice didn't help his raging nerves.

Pacifica seemed not to notice because she merely chuckled and crossed her arms.

"Well, coming from San Francisco, it's kind of hard to adjust to such a small town,  _especially_ when you move in at the end of the school year, but Gravity Falls has been great so far. There are so many weird things happening that I feel like I'm in some sort of fairy tale," she answered in a dreamy tone.

Gideon noticed that the girl had light blue eyes. He smiled timidly and fiddled with his fingers. Well, if he was going to be here all summer, then he figured she'd be a good person to befriend. She seemed nice enough at least.

 _It's now or never, Gideon._  He told himself as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I'm -"

"Lil Giddy, huh? Cute name," Pacifica interrupted in a teasing tone.

Gideon felt blood rush to his cheeks in embarrassment. Darn, his father and his silly nickname.

"N-NO! My name is P-Pines. Gideon Pines!" He half-shouted as he waved his fists around.

"Haha I was just joking!" the blonde girl laughed, "well, like Bud said, I'm Pacifica, Pacifica Southwest, but you can just call me 'Cifica or something since it's a mouthful."

It was when he saw her grin widen that Gideon noticed that she had braces. He also felt the contagiousness of her laugh and couldn't help but laugh along.

It felt nice, like they'd been friends for longer than two minutes.

"How about Pazzy? I like the sound of that!" he suggested.

Pacifica remained silent for a few seconds as she seemed to ponder it and then shrugged.

"Mmm, it could work, I guess. Where did you come from?" She asked with a curious look on her face. "You have a pretty thick accent."

"Well, I'm from Texas. My ma' figured that it'd be better for me to leave home and do something productive. She said it'd help me 'be the man I'm meant to be' or something like that," Gideon stated.

"Well, good thing you came, Giddy, summer's just begun and there's adventures to be had! I can feel it in my bones!"

At the sight of her excitement, Gideon felt like he would do anything to keep her happy. Her attitude was infectious and he was positive it'd help combat the negativity that had possessed him on the way to Gravity Falls.

"Well, maybe we could explore toda-" He began, but stopped himself when he heard his name being shouted.

"HEY COUNTRY BOY, YOU'RE WANTED DOWN HERE."

"W-well, that's Robbie, we should um.. Go downstairs now," Gideon nervously chuckled.

"If Tambry's back that means we have to go clean that mess. Ugh, I just dropped a ball, I don't understand how it made the awning collapse," Pacifica groaned while she trudged toward the stairs.

After the two of them made their way down, Gideon felt a heavy bag thrust into his hands. He glanced up to find himself facing a magenta-haired woman.

"Got the stuff? Good. Nice to meet you, name's Tambry, I'm the 'manager' technically," she said and rapidly shook his hand. "Don't talk to me unless you need something."

Gideon opened his mouth to speak, but Tambry pulled out her phone, put a headpiece in her ear, and walked away before he could get a word out. He could hear her starting a conversation with someone on the other end regarding a lot of business mumbo jumbo.

As soon as she exited the room, Bud walked in holding a stack of papers.

"Hm, while you're out there make yourself useful and put these up, boy. The more business we attract the more money we get," Bud gruffly said.

"Well, who's gonna  _see_ these in a  _forest_? The squirrels and the garden gnomes?" He sarcastically grumbled to himself when Bud turned away.

"Just follow me, Giddy. It's right outside," Pacifica said.

The two of them walked out of the Mystery Shack and around to the back. As they made their way past the building, Gideon couldn't help his puzzlement. If the awning fell, why weren't they checking the shack itself? Where were they going?

Now finding himself in the forest following a girl he  _just_ met, Gideon began to grow a bit worried even  _if_  she did seem friendly.

"U-um, Pazzy, I don't mean to be a bother, but where exactly  _is_ this awning?" He asked.

The blonde stopped walking and scratched her head. She turned around to face Gideon and smiled.

"It's in the middle of the forest. I don't know why Bud stores things this far out, but he does and well, yeah."

"Oh... I see," Gideon said, not fully convinced.

True to her word, the two of them found a run-down shack in the next two minutes. The awning had indeed collapsed, but it looked like it had happened because of the dented golf cart nearby had collided into it, not a ball like the blonde had said.

"Pazzy, was this really caused by a golf ball?" Gideon asked.

Pacifica sighed and fiddled with her hair.

"Careful where you step. I was out here early this morning and well, let's just say that there's more in this wood than animals," she said in a low voice. Her eyes darted about before she added, "They might be watching us after all."

"The animals watching us? Well, there's trees too. I'm pretty sure that there also rocks. What, do you think Big Foot is in these woods? Is that what did this?" Gideon said as he burst into laughter.

"Gideon, keep it down!" Pacifica hissed as she quickly scanned the area.

"Oh my god, you're serious about this. Listen Pazzy, I may not be from around here but even I know that we're good," He examined a small garden gnome and picked it up. "It's just us and this lil' old thang, we're perfectly fi- AGHHH!"

Gideon staggered backwards as something small collided against his face.

"Get it off of me! Get it off!" He furiously shouted.

_What is this thing? A squirrel?!_

He heard angry shouting in the distance and finally pried the creature's paws off of his face. When he went to look at what he was holding, his blood ran cold when he saw that it wasn't a squirrel like he had thought.

In his hands was a short bearded man. He paused when he realized that he was holding a living breathing garden gnome. It took everything he had to not panic and faint. Instead he threw the little man as far away as possible and looked back up at Pacifica who was surrounded by what seemed to be a mob of them.

It was then that the unintelligible shouting became clear.

"THE FUTURE QUEEN IS BACK! YOUR HIGHNESS YOU HAVE TO MARRY US NOW OR WE'LL DESTROY ALL OF THE SHACK THIS TIME!"

Gideon froze into his place and stared blankly at the scene in front of him.

"Just what the sam-heck is goin' on here?!"

* * *

 

**o~ The World We're From ~o**

 

"Would you two like to explain why you look like you showered with your clothes on?"

Wendy's irritated tone, her tightly crossed arms, and impatiently tapping foot were signs that they hadn't impressed her one bit.

Dipper swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and shifted his gaze over to Mabel who had gone deathly quiet. One long glance at her and he could tell that she knew they were both screwed.

He let out a deep sigh and scratched the back of his sopping wet hair.

"Well, we got a bit  _too_  excited about being back in town and well, there might have been a water bottle fight in the limo," Dipper replied, he bit his lip to keep his mask from slipping.

Their redheaded manager let out an exasperated groan and ran a hand through her short red hair. She walked over to the back of her silver BMW and popped open its trunk.

"You guys are lucky that I keep a stock of clothes in here. Ever since that incident where Soos nearly burnt the tent down, you can never be sure," Wendy said and picked out two bundles.

Dipper staggered backward when Wendy pressed his bundle against his chest. He tried not to let his stomach sink at how disappointed she looked. The redhead turned away and then handed his sister her clothes.

"You two go change in the forest or something. I'll go stall these guys and see what I can do about the advertising. Apparently Bud's trying to do the same. He somehow knew you two were coming back this week," Wendy stated.

"What? How's that even possible?" Mabel quickly replied and frowned, "We didn't even tell Stan that we were coming back."

"Well, what matters is that he's trying to take potential commercial time. Whether he knew you two were coming back or not isn't the concern here," Wendy said, she met Dipper's eyes momentarily before she gave them both a weak smile. "Welcome back, you two always make this hellhole more interesting,"

Dipper watched her turn around and head into the building. His eyes didn't leave her form until she disappeared around the corner.

"Well, you really blew it this time, brother."

Dipper glared at his sister who was smiling innocently (though he knew it was fake) and grumbled, "This is all your fault. Let's go change. The faster we do this, the faster I can make it up to her."

Mabel shrugged in response, but he could hear her soft footsteps behind him as he walked away. They didn't go too deep into the forest, but they branched out enough that they had room to change. Dipper unwound the amulet from around his neck and unbuttoned his shirt. While he did this, he basked in the sounds of nature. His eyebrows furrowed when he heard how silent it was.

"Hey, Mabel?" He called out.

Somewhere behind a tree, he heard his sister's voice chirp back.

"What's up? Having hard time getting your head through the sleeve hole again?"

Dipper flushed a dark red and snarled back.

"THAT WAS  **ONE** TIME!"

He let out an irritated sigh and continued to strip down to his underwear. The teen leaned down to pick up the new shirt Wendy had given him, but paused when he heard something in the distance.

He quickly slipped his new shirt over his head and pulled on a pair of shorts. Without wasting any time, he wrapped the amulet around his wrist and a familiar surge of power re-enter his body.

Dipper backed away from the tree and turned to see his sister standing in the center of the clearing gazing at something in the distance. Her eyebrows were narrowed and her jaw was clenched.

"What's happening, Mabel? See anything?" Dipper asked, his eyes roaming over the direction hers were looking.

Mabel's teal eyes widened and she shook her head.

"There's no way," she muttered.

Dipper gave her a confused look in hopes of an explanation, but instead watched her push past him and toward a cliff. With a frown on his face at being ignored, Dipper stalked after her. He peered down the edge of the cliff and examine the area.

"What the hell, Dipper. I thought we took care of them already," Mabel angrily stated.

Dipper looked over at his sister and saw the frustration in her eyes. He weaved a hand through his bangs in an attempt to try to understand their current situation.

For whatever reason, his sister was upset and whatever was the cause was down the cliff. Teal eyes flickered over to the area from where they had come and then back down to the bottom of the cliff. He wasn't sure what exactly was bothering Mabel, but if they didn't resolve it before they went in, she'd probably be highly annoyed.

"Well, lead the way. Let's wrap up this up quickly. Wendy's already upset with us, don't see how it could get any worse," he sighed.

Mabel gave him a glance that seemed to question if he was okay with the decision. Dipper shrugged and smiled before gesturing at the slope of the cliff.

"After you."

His sister offered him a supportive smile before she faced the cliff. She slowly inhaled and reached her arms out in front of her. A faint teal aura enveloped her body as she placed a foot over the edge of the cliff. She looked back hesitantly over at him and he nodded.

Dipper watched Mabel take the first step forward and immediately start plummeting down. He then made sure his own amulet was fastened around his wrist. Taking in a deep breath and facing the cliff, he took a step off and waited for gravity to work its magic.

A familiar rush of energy surged through his body as his body rapidly descended. As he neared the ground, he closed his eyes and felt a wave of power mesh with the adrenaline that had rushed through his nerves. Dipper felt his body gradually slow down and when he opened his eyes again, he was hovering at least ten feet off of the ground.

"Always the show-off, huh, brother?"

His teal eyes opened and peered down at his sister. Dipper allowed his body to gracefully land beside her and brushed his arms of nonexistent dirt.

"Well, whatever could you be talking about, Mabel?" He nonchalantly asked, though he knew what she was going to address.

"I know it feels great, but next time you do that you should at least open your eyes. A Dipper pancake wouldn't be of any use to anyone, especially Wendy," she scolded.

Dipper rolled his eyes and folded his arms. He looked around the forest floor and frowned. After straining his ears to hear any sort of sound, he was still disappointed to find that it was oddly devoid of any.

"So what exactly are we doing down here?" he asked.

Mabel turned her head to the side and stared off into a gap between the trees.

"We're taking care of a pesky gnome problem that we should have dealt with ages ago."

 


	2. The Pieces Align

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the darker side of the twins is shown.  
> I had way too much fun writing it. Reverse Pines is such a great AU.

 

Pacifica had known this would be a bad idea from the get-go.

The blonde was completely surrounded by a mob of screaming gnomes with no way of escape. Her initial struggling had resulted in her hands being bound together.

Earlier that day she had bumped into the brunet one and it was due to the encounter that the awning had collapsed leading them to their current predicament.

The gnome had begun his courting at the beginning of the previous month, he said it was necessary because "had been highly taken back by her beauty" and would not stop until she was his. It had been  _extremely_  weird and her firm denials had only further upset the gnomes.

It was because they seemed desperate that she and Gideon were even in this mess. Speaking of which, where  _was_  he anyway?

Blue eyes darted over to where she had last seen him and found that he was being tied up by a group of gnomes that had branched off from the ones in front of her.

_Oh no, Gideon!_

"So, what do you say, toots? Will ya do us the honor and become our queen?" The brown-haired gnome asked.

Pacifica puffed up her cheeks and vigorously shook her head.

"No way in hell!  _Especially_  if this is how you treat your guests," she shouted and nodded over to her captured friend.

The gnome leader scrunched up his face in frustration and turned back to the group of older gnomes behind him. Pacifica strained her ears, but to her avail she couldn't hear what they were whispering amongst each other. The brown-haired gnome folded his arms and turned to face her.

"Guys, let the tubby one go." He barked.

Pacifica watched the gnomes suddenly drop Gideon, to which he cried out, and brusquely began to remove the ropes around his hands and feet.

"Are you happy now?" He asked.

"Loads better," she briskly stated and pressed against her own bindings.

" _Now_  will you marry me?" The gnome grinned and waved his hand over. "It's the only way your safety will be secured. You're in  _OUR_  woods, blondie."

Pacifica opened her mouth to angrily retort, but then she caught Gideon's wide blue eyes. It was the fear in them that kept her from shouting and possibly making their situation worse.

"I'll take your silence as consent!" the gnome laughed snapped his fingers.

An elderly gnome wearing what looked like a makeshift priest outfit that was too large for him waddled over. He scrambled in front of the two and pulled out a book.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today," he began, but Pacifica immediately tuned him out.

The gears in her head began to rapidly crank as she picked at the knot that kept her rope together. She'd gotten Gideon into this mess and she had to get him out. That and she really didn't want to marry a gnome and have to be stuck in the forest for the rest of her life.

 _Come on, come on._  She bitterly thought as she felt the rope loosen around her wrists. It seemed that whoever had tied her up hadn't done a great job. Pacifica grimaced and continued to pick at the loose bindings.

"Hem, hem."

It was the sound of a gnome clearing their throat that caught Pacifica's attention once more. When she glanced up, she saw that all their eyes were on her. Her face heated up and she stopped struggling in hopes that they didn't know what she was doing.

"Uh…" She said and looked around in hopes of trying to figure out what she'd missed.

The gnome priest merely smiled before repeating himself.

"I was just finishing up the vows, dearie. I figured that you'd want to pay attention since this is quite the joyous occasion," he said.

Pacifica tersely nodded her head and looked over at the younger gnome. He was smiling rather smugly and it was then that the gravity of the situation began to bore down on her. She was rapidly running out of time.

"Uh, so is the youngest the leader among you?" Pacifica asked. She looked among the group in hopes of her observation being correct. She bit her lip and nervously added, "I want to be...prepped on facts before I rule the kingdom, you know?"

The elderly gnome smiled encouragingly and nodded at the brunet gnome. To that, he let out an impatient groan and turned to face her.

"It's been ages since this lot has had a proper queen. They're getting much too old to figure out how to do it which has left the role of leader to me," he explained. The gnome fiddled with his fingers, his eyes turned to the ground. "We've been plagued by something dark in the last years and our current... head is not the appropriate matriarch. She's been exploiting us in search for the demon of the woods."

Pacifica frowned, a seed of guilt embedded itself in her stomach.

"What do you mean exploited? Where is this matriarch of yours?" She asked, her eyes jumping from gnome to gnome in hopes that one would give her an explanation.

The gnomes grew deathly still, none of them even looked up, but it was the fear present on their faces that made her uncomfortable.

"Enough of this! It's not important now! If you marry me, the ties binding us to her can be severed and we can be free once more!" The brunet shouted. "Steve, continue the wedding vows! The faster we do this the better!"

The gnome priest nodded and resumed his encouraging smiling.

"Hem, hem, Jeff, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together and uphold our gnome traditions for all eternity? To aid her in undertaking her role as our majesty and queen of the forest? To cherish and honour her for as long as ye shall both live?"

The brunet gnome, Jeff, looked up at her and nodded.

"I do, I pledge myself to her for the rest of my days."

Pacifica felt her stomach squeeze and fought the urge to throw up. No, no,  _no_  there was  _no_  way this was happening. She was  _waay_  too young. She was only sixteen! She was a few months short of seventeen and had been planning her dancing queen birthday bash for years now.

 _Come on, Pacifica, make up a plan!_  She looked over at Gideon and found him blankly staring at her. The blonde sent him a pleading look, but her heart sank at the defeated one she received in return.

"Dearie, what is thy name?"

Pacifica's head snapped back to the group in front of her. The majority of them were eyeing her adoringly and some were even crying. Even Jeff seemed to have a shine in his eye that seemed to be lacking before.

"…Pacifica." She whispered after she realized that she couldn't take the fact that they were all excitedly expecting her response.

The blonde bit her lip, the guilt had started to jab at her. As much as she didn't want to marry the gnome and be whisked into the forest for the rest of her life, she also felt bad leaving them behind when it looked like fulfilling the role would make them happy. Besides, she could run away before it got serious…right?

"Such a fine name," Steve said. He turned his attention back to his book and continued, "Do you, Pacifica, take Jeff to be thy wedded husband? Wilt thou love him, honour him, allow him to aid you in your tasks as queen and mother of the gnomes?"

"I-I…" Pacifica swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and tugged at her bindings once more. Her blue eyes roamed the vicinity, she wasn't fully trapped, but there was no telling what they'd do if she ran now.

Gideon's blue eyes met her own and she saw that he was eyeing her worriedly. She gave him a weak smile that signaled that it was okay for him to run, but then she saw him shake his head, he was going to stay no matter what.

"Well dearie?"

Pacifica licked her lips and stared down at the grass beneath her sneakers. How did it even end up this way? They were just going to fix the awning… if Gideon hadn't been shouting they'd be okay-

_No, don't blame this on him. It's not his fault you got caught up in this. If anything it's mine for allowing him to come into the woods with me._

"I-I.." Pacifica cleared her throat, her cheeks were flushed and her heart was pounding in her ears. She anxiously licked her lips again and forced herself to speak. "I do-"

It was then that a sharp foreign voice overshadowed her meek one.

"And what the hell do you think you're all doing?"

Pacifica was sure no one had heard her because the clearing had filled with screaming. She immediately looked up and found that half the gnomes were floating up in the air and enveloped with some sort of blue light. The ones that were on the ground began to run away, but didn't get far before they too began to rise.

"We're sorry! It's not what it looks like!" The gnomes shouted.

Pacifica scanned the area to find out where the foreign voice had come from, but then felt a pair of hands start grabbing at the ropes on her own.

"Come on, Pazzie. Let's get out of here!" Gideon hurriedly whispered in her ear and tugged her away from the shack.

"But Gideon, shouldn't we help them?" She asked.

"No time for that! Do you really want to stick around and marry him?" He hissed back and she felt her ropes drop from her hands.

"N-no, but-" Pacifica looked back at the gnome gathering and saw two brown-haired teens, a boy and a girl, standing there. Whatever it was that was causing the gnomes to float had something to do with the two of them.

Before she turned away, the girl looked over at her and the burning glare of teal eyes imprinted itself in Pacifica' memory as she ran away.

* * *

 

**o~ The World We're From ~o**

 

"Should we have let them get away?"

Mabel looked over at her brother who was observing the clearing of the trees where the two teens had escaped. She shrugged figuring that she had more important things to worry about than two idiotic teenagers stumbling around in the woods. She walked over to the gnomes held up in the air by the blue aura emitting from their amulets. A smile made its way onto her face as she folded her arms.

"So tell me, what exactly is it that we stumbled upon,  _dear_  Jeffie?" She asked in sickeningly sweet tone.

Jeff's beady brown eyes desperately darted about in hopes that one of the other gnomes would help him. Once he came upon the realization that they were muttering to themselves and would be of no help, he sighed and looked at her.

"Y-you – y-you've been gone for months, your highness. W-we just wanted to make sure we had a suitable replacement in case you didn't return," he squeaked.

Mabel's smile grew wider and she brought up her hand to examine her nails.

"Well, I never gave you permission to do so," she said and feigned a hurt expression, "I find it kind of rude that you've decided to go about it behind my back."

The brunette suppressed the urge to laugh when she took in the expression of utter horror on Jeff's face. It felt ridiculously  _good_  to be this in  _control_.

"It almost feels like…" Mabel paused, a finger pressed against her lower lip. A smirk crept onto her face as she offhandedly continued, "Well, it almost feels like mutiny."

The group of gnomes halted their movements. She could hear them all shuffling about and begin to mutter apologies and pledge their loyalty to her. The amused smirk on her face continued to grow as she neared her brother.

"Do tell me, dear Dippingsauce, what exactly happens to gnomes who  _disobey_  the rules?" She casually asked and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Dipper ran a hand through his slick brown hair and gave the gnomes a half-smile.

"Dear sister, from what I recall, the journal said that gnomes can be punished for being naughty," he replied and pressed a hand to his chin. He seemed to think for a bit, "Alas, I can't remember what exactly it is that has to be done."

Mabel dropped her hand from his shoulder and looked back at the group as they let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Ahh, well, if I do remember correctly, dear old Shmebulock, had a nasty run in last year… didn't he, Jeffie?" Mabel asked, her hands covered her mouth with mock surprise. "He turned into a statue and then someone happened  _shatter_  it!"

Jeff grimaced and shot her a look of pure hatred as some of the gnomes began to wail. It seemed that some of the elderly gnomes had even soiled their pants. If possible her smile grew even wider. Oh, this was just  _too_  wonderful.

"What was it that caused his demise again?" Mabel stuck her finger up as she feigned recollection, "Oh, that's right, it had something to do with your aversion to  _water_."

The wails of the gnomes seemed to die down to sniffles, all their pleading eyes turned to Jeff. The young gnome gritted his teeth in anger, the purely concentrated look on his face suddenly dawning with light as he seemed to think of something.

"What're you gonna do to us? If you take us all out then you'll have  _no one_  spying on Cipher for you," Jeff smugly shot back.

At that, Mabel smiled wickedly, it was a good thing she had caught these gnomes when she did. They were getting  _too_  out of hand.

"Who said I'd take all of you out?" She sweetly asked and waved her hand over Jeff's floating body.

The brunette walked toward the river that ran by the run-down shack and pointed at it. The glowing blue aura that kept Jeff upright dragged his body so he was hovering over it. The gnome let out a horrified gasp and pushed himself as far away from the roaring body of water.

"Mm, Jeffie, you've been quite a burden as of late. I could easily put one of your gnome friends in charge," Mabel sneered.

"N-no, you can't do this! Those gnomes can't do a thing without me!" He screamed and hopelessly fought against the magic enveloping him.

" _Precisely_ , that makes any future chances of mutiny drop to zero! You're the source of rebellion and if I take you out of the equation, well," Mabel gave him a toothy grin. "You do know how easy it is for a stone statue to break, right?"

"Please, I'll do anything! It won't happen ever again!" Jeff cried, his eyes remained fixed on the murky depths of the river.

"Mmm, what do you think, brother? Is it really worth it?" Mabel asked and turned to Dipper.

Her brother rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Look, Wendy's going to be even more upset if we don't hurry back. If dropping him in allows us to go back then do whatever you want. They're your toys not mine," he stated.

Mabel frowned, her brother was back to thinking about Wendy again. She turned back to the weeping gnome and flicked her hand back toward the rest.

"I'm feeling generous today, Jeffie," she said and watched as the floating gnomes dropped to the ground. "Let this serve as a warning. If I even have the impression that you're plotting against your empress, there will be no hesitation."

The group of gnomes huddled around Jeff and he bravely nodded.

"C-crystal clear, your highness," he whimpered.

"Perfect, now do continue your search. The demon is quite a trickster," Mabel paused, her thoughts returned back to the teens that had ran away earlier. "Also, if you see those two from earlier keep tabs on them for me. They didn't seem familiar."

"G-got it," Jeff whispered. "Anything else?"

"That is all, you're all dismissed," She said and waved them away with her hand.

The group of gnomes began to scatter, but before they got to run into the woods, Mabel called out.

"Oh, and dear Jeffie, please do not forget how fragile statues are. Maybe if you're lucky I'll keep you for our fountain."

Mabel gleefully observed the head gnome turn and give her a quick bow. The group of little men disappeared into the forest leaving her and Dipper alone.

"Well, are you ready to head back?" Her brother asked.

"Basically," Mabel smiled, she walked toward the cliff edge from where they had arrived.

"It's good to be back."

* * *

 

**o~ The World We're From ~o**

 

Two teens scrambled through the forest.

They had not taken a break since they'd escaped the gnomes' clutches. Whoever those two teens were, they certainly were brave to face the group by themselves. At least, that's what Gideon figured.

"D-do you think we lost them?" He asked the blonde girl next to him.

"I-I hope so, I think we can stop running now," Pacifica replied and took a seat on a fallen tree in order to catch her breath.

Gideon sat beside her and allowed his pounding heart to stabilize. With all the adrenaline that had been surging through him, he hadn't paid much attention to where they had been going. For all he knew, they could be miles away from the Mystery Shack.

"Gosh darn it, Pazzie. Why didn't ya say somethin' sooner regarding them little fellers?" He panted and removed his ratty brown cap from his hair in order fan himself.

"If you don't remember, I kept telling you not to shout," she answered, her blue eyes were shut and she was holding herself.

Gideon frowned, he figured that she'd be happy to be free and not become some gnome queen.

"Everything okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm still a bit in shock. I'll be good in a bit," she whispered back.

Gideon gave her a weak smile and stood up. He pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had any connection. Luckily for him, his 3G seemed to be working and he managed to pull a map to find out where they were.

"Ah, good news, we're around ten minutes away from the shack!" He happily laughed.

"Haha,  _great_ , how're we going to explain to Bud that we couldn't fix the awning because we got scared away by garden gnomes?" she bitterly asked.

"Eh, I'll just tell Pa' that we got chased away by wolves or somethin', I doubt he'll be too mad as long as we get it done eventually."

Gideon watched a grateful smile light up his friend's face. He was definitely glad to see that she was feeling better.

"Do you at least wanna put up these flyers so we feel like we accomplished something?" He asked and lifted the pile of remaining papers. "Maybe losing some of them back there wasn't  _too_  bad."

Pacifica chuckled and raised herself from the fallen tree. She reached over and grabbed the stack of papers from his hands.

Gideon pulled out a box of nails that he had stuffed into his pocket and fished out the hammer he had stashed in his vest. The two walked over to nearby trees and began their job of hammering some in. From what he had seen on the map, they were near a lake, so hopefully a stray fisher going to use nature as a restroom would see the sign and decide to pay a visit or spread the word.

The two went about this for a good twenty minutes and their stack of papers rapidly dwindled. It had helped that they'd lost a majority of the pile back with the gnomes, but his father didn't have to know that.

"Aaaaand, this is the last one!" Pacifica happily shouted.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Gideon answered back.

The blonde shot him a wry look and shook her head.

"Nah, I think you should do it. Think of it as an apology for getting you caught in that mess earlier," she said.

Gideon merely his head and smiled. He angled the nail onto a decently high up spot on the tree and then hit it with the hammer. Instead of watching the nail slide in perfectly like it had with the other trees though, he frowned when he heard a loud metallic clang instead.

His blue eyes shifted over to Pacifica who was watching with a confused expression on her face He repeated the action and felt his hand shake at the tremor that coincided with the nail clanging against the tree.

"What the-" Gideon reached over and banged his hand against to tree only to hear a dull echo.

He slid his hand over the metallic bark and watched it leave a smooth line of dust in its wake.

The white haired boy looked back at Pacifica who merely shrugged and then he felt around for a sort of opening. There was a click and then a slot opened up.

"What is that thing?" Pacifica asked.

Gideon cleared the filthy compartment of some spider webs and observed the apparatus in front of them. It was bronze and had a lot of complicated looking knobs on it. He bit his lip before tugging at some of the levers to see if it worked.

It wasn't until he jiggled the smaller one on the right that he heard the dull whirring of gears in the distance. There was another clang and he heard the sound of a door opening up behind him.

"Whoa, what's that?" Pacifica pointed out.

The two of them wandered over to the fallen tree where they had been resting before and examined the hole that had opened up in the ground. Inside it was a really dusty looking book.

"Uh, maybe you shouldn't take that out, Giddy. What if its owner decides to come back?" His blonde friend asked in a nervous voice.

"If they wanted to get this thing back, they wouldn't have let it sit around for this long in a hole, Pazzie. I'm sure that they'd want us to free it and find out what the heck it is," He answered.

Gideon wiped some of the dust off of the cover and frowned. A golden hand was imprinted on the front and a bolded number '3' lay in the middle of it.

_What the heck? What's even in this thing?_

He opened up the book and rifled through the pages noting that there seemed to be some handwritten notes and pictures. He found himself stopping at a section when he noticed a group of small little bearded men.

"Hey look, Pazzie! It's them little fellers from before. Garden gnomes, huh?" He said and took a seat on the tree. "This thing's incredible! Wow, you sure were right when you said that the town was hiding something!"

Pacifica took a seat beside him, her blue eyes peering from over his shoulder at the journal they had stumbled upon.

"Wow that  _is_  pretty cool. Hmm," the blonde hummed and pointed her finger at a spot on the page. "No known weaknesses, huh. We would have been screwed."

The two of them let out loud laughs. Gideon was glad that they'd managed to get away. He was seriously thankful that those two had come when they did. If not, he was ready to rush over and carry his new friend away.

Okay, maybe carrying would have been a bit too much, but he would have definitely taken her away from there.

"With this thing, we can learn more about the town, Pazzie!" Gideon excitedly said and held the journal above his head. "We'll discover the secrets of Gravity falls!"

"Haha,  _right_ , but first let's go home, ya goof. The boss is probs going to want to want an update," the older girl said.

The pair made their way back to the shack quickly. They got an earful from Bud about not keeping through with their commitments, but made plans to begin exploring the woods with their new information soon.

* * *

 

**o~ The World We're From ~o**

 

There was a vibe of fervor and happiness circulating through the Gleeful estate.

The entire dining room was filled with the tantalizing aroma of Soos' mystery meat tacos and the other assortment of foods.

The family, save for the parents, was sitting along a round table with Soos and Wendy. While the redhead had been a bit peeved, she had quickly gotten over it when the TV station manager agreed to their commercial. Of course, it'd been because Dipper had used his amulet to plant the thought that they should go through with it in the man's mind, but Wendy didn't have to know that.

"Soos, theef tacos arrree ahmaging," Stan said with a mouth full of food.

The man in question briefly nodded and picked at his own food. The twins had invited Wendy to join them for dinner and Dipper couldn't have been more excited that she accepted. He glanced at her using his peripheral vision and saw that she was chatting away with Mabel.

"You know that with this contract, we can even try to push it out of state. You guys don't have to stay in Gravity Falls all summer like we thought you were," Wendy piped.

Dipper felt a genuine smile at the sight of her excitement. Wendy was often stressed with the burdens of being their full-time manager and she was also balancing her college studies. He knew that while they'd been in Hawaii she'd been arranging meetings and events to make sure their name didn't die down.

"What're you smiling about over there, brother? Thinking about the weird searches in your internet history again?" Mabel asked, he saw her raise her glass to her lips in order to hide her smirk.

An angry blush dotted his cheeks, leave it to his sister to embarrass him in front of his crush.

"I can be happy about securing the deal, can't I, Mabel?" He hissed back.

To his chagrin, Wendy laughed along with his sister at the tomato red color his face had taken.

"Calm down, Gleeful, she's just poking fun at you. We're all proud of your accomplishments," Wendy said and mussed up her short red hair. With her free hand, she raised her glass and the bottle of champagne that was situated in the middle of the table.

Wendy poured herself a drink of the bubbling liquid and then passed it around, however once it got to Stan, he frowned and looked at the twins.

"Wait, aren't you two a little young to be drinking?"

Dipper caught Mabel's eye and watched her roll hers in annoyance. He fought the frown that threatened to show on his face and met his great-uncle's eyes.

"Grunkle Stan, Mabel and I have been through much more than kids our age. You for one  _know_  the undertakings upon which we've built our careers," he asked, the frown he fought to keep was winning, "Do you think sipping some alcohol with a group of  _trusted_  adults at  _home_  is really going to cause much harm?"

The older man's eyebrows scrunched up and he reached up scratch his head. "No, I suppose not…"

"Thank you," he whispered and reached over to pour himself a glass.

After he had filled Mabel's, which she had rudely thrust in his face, Wendy cleared her throat and stood up. She glanced around the room and then lifted her glass, "To another successful year of shows!"

"Hear, hear!" The table echoed as they all raised their glasses and drank.

Dipper wasn't necessarily fond of alcoholic beverages, but he noticed that it was something the manager partook in. Mabel downed them like water at parties and merely told him that it was an acquired taste.

The younger twin bit his lower lip. He had plans to discuss with Mabel, but it looked like their guests weren't leaving anytime soon. Dipper closed his eyes and focused the energy of his amulet.

 _Mabel, I believe the time to resume uncovering the mysteries of this town is at hand._ He thought and looked up at her hoping the telepathic connection between them had been established.

His sister's teal eyes met his own and she took a nibble of her taco.

**_You couldn't wait until they left?_ **

The brunet rolled his eyes and took another sip of champagne. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and set the glass down.

 _It's a matter of importance._ Dipper frowned and decided to bring the glass back up to his lips.  _Besides, you didn't tell me that you were searching for **him**  again._

Mabel's reply was blunt and apathetic.

**_I didn't think it mattered._ **

It was made even more obvious when she turned to Wendy and initiated a conversation with her. On the other side of him, Soos and Stan seemed to be animatedly talking about the business, well Stan was at least.

 _Of course it's important. Bill Cipher is a force to be reckoned with. How could you forget what he did back then?_  Dipper finished what was in his glass and filled it up again.

**_Is it possible to even forget? Aren't you curious though? That world he showed us…what if there's a way to reach it?_ **

Dipper furrowed his brow and tightened his grip on the glass. He forced himself to relax and placed it back down on the table.

_That world is a **fantasy** , Mabel. If you're not willing to help me further enhance our powers and want to invest your time in a silly reverie, then go ahead._

"You okay, Mabel? You suddenly dazed off."

Wendy's voice cut through his thoughts and Dipper immediately looked up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm going to turn in for the night," Mabel said in a voice so low that he barely heard it. "Good night."

Dipper kept his eyes trained on his sister's back until she left the dining room. He drained what was left of his drink and stood up as well.

"I'm going to bed as well," he said and turned to Wendy. His voice took on a gentler tone, "Be safe on your ride home, Wendy."

The redhead gave him a lopsided smile and he left the room only to hear her begin a conversation with the remaining men.

 **_That wasn't nice and you know it,_ ** **dear brother _._**

Dipper sighed at the venomous tone his sister's thoughts had taken.

 _I'm sorry, I'm just a bit stressed._ He pinched the bridge of his nose at the obvious lie and made his way into his room. He preferred to not dwell his misfortunes of the past, but to do that he needed his sister to cooperate.

Dipper collapsed onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. His hand reached out to the side in order to grab a book that was resting on his bookshelf.

**_Gonna read that stupid journal again?_ **

_Yeah, I figure it'll help me think of what to do. When did Wendy say our next show would be?_

**_We have until Friday._ **

Dipper's eyes opened wide at her thought. He immediately sat up and turned on the lamp beside his bed.

 _WHAT? But that's three days from now! Why so soon?!_  He desperately thought and flipped the journal open.

**_She said it at least five times tonight. The first commercial airs tomorrow. Grunkle Stan and Soos have been advertising for it since we've been away._ **

Dipper rummaged through the journal and picked up the notebook he kept on his night table. He flipped through pages of hastily scrawled writing. His silence had obviously perked his sister's interest and he could hear her amusement in the next thought she sent him.

 ** _Oh my… were you too busy gawking at her to pay attention? Your crush is_** so ** _cute._**

It was at times like these that Dipper hated the link that the amulets allowed between him and his sister. He reached around his neck and unclasped the chain.

Without the usual surge of energy from the jewel, he felt naked, but he didn't need to have Mabel's unwarranted jests bothering him as he strategized.

At least five minutes after he had taken it off, he heard his door open. He looked up and found Mabel peering at his eyes.

"Oh, they're brown. Well, that explains your silence. You missed a  _great_  joke," Mabel said and plopped down next to him. "Are those plans for the next show?"

"Yes," he firmly stated and compared his notes to those found in the journal. "We might need those gnomes of yours. They can probably find these things faster than I can."

Mabel ripped his notebook out of his hands and stared down it, her eyes narrowed at each word.

"The pink shrinking crystals from Lake Gravity Falls, Deer teeth, and a shrunken head? What're you trying to do, cast a curse?" She asked.

Dipper shook his head and thumbed through another page of the journal.

"They're props, Mabel. Maybe we can add more audience interactions," his cheeks flushed as he passed over a page regarding a love potion. "The deer teeth and shrunken head are for something else entirely."

"Well, don't do anything that might jeopardize your life and by that, I mean that potion," Mabel said. "The best way to win someone's heart is by trying, but brother you're such a … _charmer_. I'm sure if you show her your collection of knives she'll drop her pants and hop o-"

Mabel didn't get to finish her statement before Dipper chucked a pillow at her.

"Get. Out." He hissed.

The elder twin left the room, laughing to the point of tears, and left him all alone.

Dipper wished he had his amulet on so he could have slammed the door after her, but instead he shook his head and resumed his attention back on the book. He hesitated momentarily before flipping it to the last page he had actually written in before switching he had switched over to a notepad.

A large eye stared back at him and even though it was just a drawing, he could feel chills from the memories of that day as if they had happened yesterday. With that, he slammed the journal closed and put it off to the side.

 _It's been four years, Dipper. **Get over it.**_ He angrily thought to himself and scratched his head.

"Stupid Mabel messing with things she's not supposed to," he grumbled and lifted his pencil to his lips.

Her unwarranted entrance did give him some ideas though.

In the dim light provided to him by his lamp, Dipper continued planning until it was time for the outside world to wake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If updates are a bit irregular, it's because I've decided to write a bit ahead. This story has no real schedule, but I'll crank them out as best as I can. Thanks for reading! Reviews and Criticisms are appreciated.


	3. No Time to Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for this to come out! I had a bit of writer’s block, but it’s a bit longer than last chap. Also, we see more development on both sides. I have so much fun writing this AU. Anyways, Enjoy! 
> 
> **Also, there's a song I had in mind when it came to the performance scene. It's called Wicked Blood by Sea Wolf and whenever I thought of them rehearsing it was just this haha. So you can imagine them singing to the intro beat of when the dude starts singing or whatever floats your boat. youtube.com/watch?v=bIDl89y7xiI

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_The basement was dark. The only light came from the gaps in the curtained windows and the faint glow of candles arranged in a circle on the floor.  
  
_ _Dipper looked around the room and frowned.  He had visited the basement earlier that day to retrieve his prized knives from their chest. Though it seemed to him that all of the furniture was now pressed against the wall._

_Teal eyes stared down at the circle of candles and Dipper froze. Immediately his eyes shot up only to see a younger version of himself and Mabel file into the room. Young Dipper had his head buried in his book and was animatedly chatting while Mabel used a file to sharpen the blade in her hands._

_A weak smile crossed his face at the sight, even at age twelve the two had been dedicated to their art._  
  
  
"I'm telling you, Mabel! With this incantation everything is going to get a lot better!" He excitedly chirped, his sister rolled her eyes. 

  
"I just need to set up the last few things and we're good to go!" The young version of himself continued though his sister had lost interest and was balancing her blade on the tip of her finger.  
 

 _Dipper's smile faltered when he remembered the reason why the two kids had even painted out the circle on the floor. Why exactly they were in the basement at that moment.  
_  

 _His blood ran cold and he tried to warn his younger self, but no words came out.  
_  

 _His teal eyes widened in horror as the twins knelt down in the circle and young Dipper began chanting.  
_  

 _"Triangulum, entangulum."  
_  

 _The real Dipper scrambled over to the twins and tried to shake his younger self. To his horror, his hands just went through the boy.  
_  

 _"Veneforis dominus ventium."  
_  

 **_"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"_ ** _He shouted at him, but the boy seemed to not hear him.  
_  

 _" Veneforis venetasarium."  
_  

 _Dipper watched in horror as the room was engulfed by a blinding gold light. He covered his eyes, but the sudden change in the atmosphere indicated that the deed had been done.  
_  

 _The teal-eyed boy straightened himself and watched as the rest of the memory began to unfold. The twins, in all their naive delight of successfully summoning a demon, ignored the jests and riddles that were now clear to him.  
_  

 _"So for what reason have you unlocked the realm of your world to me?" Bill asked, his voice booming and somehow sounding as if there was a speaker blasting it.  
_  

 _Dipper saw his younger self look at his sister, Mabel frowned and spoke up.  
_  

 _"My brother and I were wondering if there was any way you could help us enhance our powers. We know that these amulets-" she gestured to the jewel dangling from her neck and continued, "-Give us powers, but how are they useful if you're limited to contact?"  
_  

 _The dream demon laughed, Dipper tried to fight the urge to cringe at the sound of it.  
_  

 _"Well, you already have power, Shooting Star! Everything comes with a price! Otherwise you'd be like an overpowered boss in a video game!"  
_  

 _"Shooting Star? What the hell kinda name is that?"  
_  

 _"It's what has been designated to you. I believe that you'll find that it'll impact you more in the future! You and Pine Tree are such riots!" Bill said, his voice failed to hide his excitement.  
_  

 _Mabel frowned, the pre-teen folded her arms tightly across her chest and glared at him. Older Dipper was surprised at her ferocity.  
_  

 _"See brother, I told you this was a stupid idea. If you just practice throwing knives or working with illusion skills, you'd see you don't need magic," she growled.  
_  

 _The Twelve year old version of himself looked torn. While Mabel was correct, Dipper recalled that back then he hadn't been as capable. He had always stood behind sister as others praised her achievements, he'd always felt like the lesser twin.  
_  

 _"Well, since you two freed me and allowed me access into this world, I guess I **can** bend **some** rules and make a deal!"  
_  

 _The twins along with Dipper observed the yellow demon. The well-dressed triangle eyed them gleefully.  
_  

 _"In the other world, I recently made a deal with the other Pine Tree! Though that Shooting Star foiled me... That's not important though! I sense something in you two that they lacked!"  
_  

 _"And what would that be?" Younger Dipper asked.  
_  

 _The demon smiled, or at least it gave off the vibe that it was smiling, because he had no mouth. With a snap of his fingers, the four of them found themselves in what seemed to be a stage.  
_  

 _Up on the bridge, a young girl wearing an oversized sweater wrestled with a boy wearing a reverend outfit. Dipper narrowed his eyes, he recognized them as the Pines Twins. The **other** versions of themselves, the ones his sister was infatuated with.  
_  

 _"Up there is where I almost completed my plans and stopped Pine Tree from ruining me. In this world, the two of you go by the last name Pines. While you're fun to play with... This version is more dull."  
_  

 _The scene shifted again and it showed the two lounging in a wooden room camped out in front of an ancient television set.  
_  

 _"What am I **wearing**?" Mabel asked, her voice was dripping with horror.  
_  

 _"This is horrible. Why would I ever think that the vest is fashionable at all?" The other Dipper proclaimed.  
_  

 _"Wow, you two really interesting if you care more about clothes then the fact that they live in the **Mystery** **Shack**!" Bill half-shouted.  
_  

 _The twins looked at each other in confusion and basked in their surroundings. Lying beside the male Pines twin was a journal that Dipper recognized. He had Journal number 2 in his possession, but it was at this moment they'd realized that the other could be found in the shack.  
_  

 _"All the power you seek is in that shack! The knowledge is within your grasp! Are you sure you still don't want to make that deal? It'll help you in the long run." Bill asked.  
_  

 _The room flashed once more and they were all back in the basement. Dipper watched his younger self stand off to the side and talk to Mabel. His stomach churned, he knew what was coming and he didn't want to see it again. He shut his eyes tightly in hopes of trying to wake himself up.  
_  

 _"Fine, I'll do it, brother." Mabel said.  
_  

 _Dipper opened up his teal eyes and watched his sister walk up to Bill. The demon had his arm outstretched, it was covered in blue flames. Had Mabel not hesitated and taken his arm then perhaps he would have been spared. Unfortunately, the twelve year old version of him had been hungry for power and wanted to one-up his sister so he had lunged and taken Bill's hand instead.  
_  

 _Dipper backed himself away from the circle of candles. He didn't want to see this. Not again.  
_  

 _Bill's maniacal laugh filled the room as Mabel started to panic and shout his name. Dipper closed his eyes again, not wanting to see what was waiting for him. The room grew eerily silent and even with his eyes closed he could tell it had gotten darker.  
_  

 **_One peek won't hurt, right?_ ** _he thought to himself.  
_  

 _His right eye opened and immediately adjusted to the scene. The candles were blown out and except for a lone figure standing in the center of the room, it was empty.  
_  

 _"You're still afraid, Pine Tree. You put up a facade of bravery, but yet you cower."  
_  

 _Dipper's eyes flew open, anger replacing any fear he had. He opened his mouth to retort, but the figure lifted its hand and made a slashing motion. Dipper felt as if his mouth had been sewn shut and he tried to keep from whimpering.  
_  

 _"Shh, let me finish!" The figure laughed and took a step closer. "How does it feel to be not good enough for the one you love? What's the point of being intelligent if you can't put it to use?"  
_  

 _Dipper looked down at the ground and at his feet, he tried to ignore the figure's nearing footsteps.  
_  

 _"Your sister has more talent in her pinky finger than you do in your entire body. Face it, eventually people will be coming to see her and then you'll be the sideshow!"  
_  

 _Dipper tore his eyes from the ground and looked up to see his younger self. His fists tightened as he lunged at the boy. Golden eyes bore into teal.  
_  

 _"Get out of my dreams, **demon** ," he sneered and since he couldn't speak he used the amulet to force the thought into the boy's mind.  
_ 

 _Bipper let out a chuckle before he burst into crazed laughter.  
_  

 _"That's the psychotic Pine Tree I know and love!" He chortled.  
_  

 _Dipper noticed that he had regained control over his jaw and growled.  
_  

 _" **Get. Out. Cipher.** "  
_ 

 _Bipper's eyes narrowed into slits, without trying he shoved Dipper away, it his hard enough to send him flying off.  
_  

 _"Remember, Pine Tree! In the mindscape, I have all the power," he said, his voice dripping with venom at each word. Bipper gave him a cheery smile, "I'll let you off with a riddle though."  
_  

 _Bipper launched himself at Dipper and wrapped his hands tightly around his neck.  
_  

_“Be careful what you wish for and do it while the star is shining bright in the sky. You never know what will finally make it to fall and you'll have to wait until then for it to come true. HAHAHAHAHA!"_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
_  

Dipper woke with a start.

His heart was pounding so hard he feared it would burst out of his chest and he was trembling. He picked up his phone and saw that it was 3 AM.  
 

His heart sank.  
 

It was also Friday.  
 

Dipper placed his phone back down on his bedside table and collapsed onto his pillow. He brought his arm up and rested it on his forehead. The dream was starting to fragment, but the pieces that mattered were sticking.  
 

He grimaced and sat up. “There’s no way, I’m becoming the sideshow. I’m **better** than than.”  
 

The brunet fastened his amulet around his wrist and grabbed his journal.  
 

“Never again, Cipher. Never again.” He mumbled to himself.  
 

And for the third time that week there was a light lit in the Gleeful Estate until the wee hours of the morning.  
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gideoooooon, where are youuu!”  
 

The white-haired boy looked up from the book that he was reading and called out. “I’m in the living room, Pazzy!”  
 

Mere seconds later, his blonde friend stumbled into the room. Pacifica excitedly waved hello and plopped down next to him on the dusty carpet. “So you’ve still got your nose buried in that book, huh?”  
 

Gideon excitedly nodded his head, he jabbed a finger at the page that he was currently skimming.  
 

“It’s so interesting, Pazzy! I feel so enlightened and more prepared for anything to come. Who knew that unicorns actually exist?!”  
 

The blonde stretched her arms out before folding them behind her head. As Gideon continued to read, he heard her adjust herself so she could watch the television in front of them better.  
 

He could faintly hear the show that he’d been using for background noise fade into commercials. It would have remained background noise if Pacifica didn’t suddenly gasp and began to violently shake him.  
 

“GIDDY, GIDDY ISN’T THAT THEM?!”  
 

Gideon felt Pacifica’s hands adjust his face so he was looking up. He glared at her momentarily before looking at the screen.  
 

His jaw slackened when he saw that the two teenagers on the screen did look familiar. He then focused on the upbeat music of the commercial in hopes of finding out what it was about.  
 

 **“The Tent of Telepathy. Full of wonders and mysteries galore.”** A male voice said before being replaced by a higher pitched one. _“Will you change your fate and take the leap into a new world?”_

**“A Dark one, full of adventure and mystery.”**

_“Magic and spiritual enlightenment.”  
_  

The screen momentarily faded to black before it showed the music grew quick and intense. With each drop of the beat, a new scene flickered onto the screen.  
 

The male twin making a person disappear, the girl sharply tossing a blade at a rotating dummy, members of the audience levitating and joining the twins in flight.  
 

The screen flashed over to the twins, looking smug and dressed in matching teal outfits.  
 

“ **Will you be brave enough to join us?”** The boy asked.  
 

“ _Or will you back out before you have a chance?”  
_  

 _“ **The choice is yours.”**_  

A croaky male voiced over the final scene which showed a teal tent with a multi-colored star at the top.

**[“Come on down to the Tent of Telepathy! Weekly shows being held starting Friday June 24.” ]**

“Holy moley, that was those two!” Gideon yelled.  
 

“See, I told you! Ohmygosh, I’ve heard of them! Apparently they’re like really popular and everyone in town loves them,” Pacifica added.  
 

“Well, I think they’re full of themselves and two spoiled brats.”  
 

Gideon and Pacifica turned to look at the newcomer. His father was leaning against the doorway, his eyes were narrowed in anger.  
 

“What makes you say that, Pa’ ?” he asked.  
 

“Those two have been trying to buy the shack from me since I came here. You could say that we have a bit of a...rivalry,” Bud scowled.  
 

Pacifica snickered, but paused when Bud turned his eyes on her. “Sorry, I’m just curious as to why you’re squabbling with two teenagers.”  
 

“Bah, they look like teens, but those two are far from harmless. It’d be better for you two to stay away from them,” Bud barked.  
 

Gideon fiddled with his fingers and returned his gaze back to the screen. The commercial had been pretty interesting and he didn’t want to disobey his father, but he kind of wanted to thank the two people who had save their butts the other day.  
 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Pines, I’ll make sure Giddy stays out of trouble,” Pacifica laughed and hooked her arm around his shoulders.  
 

Bud nodded and left the room. Gideon immediately pulled away and frowned.  
 

“Hey, I kinda wanna go see that show,” he said in a hushed whisper. “I’ve been to a gazillion shows with my dad, I don’t get what makes this one any different.”  
 

Pacifica’s smile seemed to widen. “Yeah, same here, but obviously we can’t let your dad know. Jeez, Giddy get with the program.”  
 

“OH, right, right!” He said with dawning realization. “Should we go to the forest and see what can find though? The show probably isn’t until later.”  
 

Pacifica nodded and stood up. She fished out her phone and began to rapidly type away. “Mmk, just let me tell Tiffany and Annie to see if they want to go that way you can finally meet them.”  
 

“Oh, right, right. Your friends that you seem _so_ desperate to introduce me to,” Gideon commented.  
 

Pacifica snorted and lightly elbowed him in the ribs. She flashed him a metallic grin and put her phone away. “They’re good people. If they’re friends with _me_ then they’re bound to be.”  
 

Gideon smiled to himself before reaching over to grab his knapsack from the couch. He placed the journal into it before zipping it shut. He tugged his brand-new blue cap over his head and angled himself so his friend could see it.  
 

“Ah, you got rid of that ratty brown thing?” Pacifica pointed out.  
 

Gideon nodded and brightly smiled. “After that whole gnome fiasco, Pa’ was so proud that we’d ‘put up all the posters’ and ‘fixed’ the shack, that he decided to gift me it.”  
 

Pacifica’s smile dropped, she rubbed her arm nervously and glanced outside the window. Gideon placed his hand on her arm and spoke sympathetically. “Hey, it’s not your fault. It can’t be helped that we got trapped by psycho gnomes. We just gotta fix the shack before Pa’ notices.”  
 

The two of them made their way to the front of the shack. They waved Robbie goodbye and exited the building.  
 

It was typical Gravity Falls weather. Muggy and hot, but at least the shade provided some respite from the sun’s harsh rays. The two teens stumbled their way through the vast expanse that was the forest that encompassed at least half of Gravity Falls before they reached a small river.  
 

“Okay, If I’m right then we should be somewhere near the broken shack,” Gideon said.  
 

Mere seconds later, the two discovered it looking pretty much the same as they had left it, save for the few flyers that were scattered about. As Gideon examined the area where Pacifica had almost been forced to become a gnome queen, the blonde sat down on a nearby rock.  
 

“Huh,” Gideon murmured to himself. His blue eyes jumping from the journal and then to the rock.  
 

“What?” Pacifica asked, she got up from her spot and wandered over to him.  
 

“There’s like a whole bunch of ‘Wonders of Gravity Fall’s in here. Apparently the area we are at is called ‘The Fairy Ring’, interesting,” he said.  
 

Pacifica took the book from his hands and examined the page. He watched her look at the journal and then lift her head to scan the surroundings. She let out a soft gasp, her blue eye widened, before all of a sudden she took off into the woods.  
 

“What the, Pazzy, wait up!” Gideon called out and chased after her.  
 

The two continued running until they reached a giant cliff. Gideon stared up, he adjusted his cap so it would allow him to see better and turned to the taller girl.  
 

“What happened?” He asked, he tried not to let the panic seep into his voice.  
 

Pacifica scrunched up her face and handed the book back to him. She let out a groan and stretched her arms out. “Nothing, I just saw that this place was called the Centaur Valley, but it doesn’t look like anything’s here.”  
 

Gideon opened his mouth to tell her not to feel bad and that not everything in this book _had_ to be real when he spotted a white blur in the distance. His jaw dropped and he tugged on the sleeve of her sweater.  
 

“Pazzy, is that?”  
 

The blonde turned, her entire face lit up, as she began to bounce in place.  
 

“It’s a Centaur!”  
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mabel adjusted her vest.  
 

It was approximately an hour and thirty minutes until the show started and she and her brother were running through the routine. Well, they’d be running through it if Dipper didn’t keep stopping a quarterway in and grumbling to himself about how it wasn’t right.  
 

They were currently on break, her brother poring over that stupid book like he had been ever since they’d obtained it when they were twelve. Mabel frowned, her brother had an addictive type of personality, once he got hooked on something, he was _hooked_.  
 

Unfortunately, it seemed that his obsession with the journal would never die down.  
 

“Dipper, are we ready to try again?” She asked, she tried to hide the exasperation from her tone, but knew it failed when he sharply glared at her.  
 

“I told you already, Mabel. I need to fix up something, it’s not right,” he said almost mechanically and turned away from her.  
 

The elder twin rolled her teal eyes and walked over to the seat of knives situated nearby. She grabbed one of the nearest ones as an idea sparked in her mind. Back when they’d been in Hawaii, she’d seen some of the workers manipulating fire. Of course, they way _they’d_ done it had been a trick, but what if they could incorporate fire into the show?  
 

Mabel stuck out her tongue and focused her energy on the tip of the blade. She pictured it engulfed with flames that wouldn’t extinguish unless she wanted them to. She was about to give up and relax the muscles of her face when the knife caught fire.  
 

The brunette let out a gasp and dropped it only to watch the flames go out the moment it hit the ground.  
 

“Mabel, I said be _quiet_ ,” Dipper hissed, his back was still turned to her, but at this point she didn’t care.  
 

The elder twin held out her hand and imagined a ball of fire appearing in it. In mere seconds, a small flame appeared and grew to the size of a tennis ball. Mabel internally applauded herself and juggled the fireball between her hands.  
 

A pearly laugh escaped her lips as she tossed it into the air and created another one. She played a game of catch with herself, twirling around occasionally to catch a difficult toss or making sure she didn’t drop it. She was too busy enjoying herself that she didn’t notice her brother had turned to speak to her.  
 

It wasn’t until she decided to try a trick that she saw him watching and she stumbled causing the balls of flame to immediately dissipate.  
 

A pregnant pause loomed between the twins as they regarded the other. Dipper finally broke it when he approached her, Mabel noticed that he was gripping the journal so tight that his knuckles were white. “How did you do that?”

She shrugged and allowed another flame to appear at her fingertips. “I don’t know, but I saw these people in Hawaii doing some dancing with fire at the luau we went to.”

Mabel turned to her brother, her eyes wide with excitement. She felt like she could finally contribute to the show and not stand off to the side as an assistant or just a helper. “Do you think this could be that thing you’re missing? I mean, I know I’m new at it, but if I learn I’m sure I’ll-”  
 

“Teach me how to do it,” Dipper curtly interrupted.  
 

Mabel felt her smile slide from her face, a sheepish look crept onto her face and she placed her hand over her arm. “Okay...’  
 

The brunette walked over to her brother and outstretched her hands. “Well, what I did was imagine a sphere of energy in my hands. Once you feel that connection with yourself, it’s going to be a bit warm, but then you have to release that burst and then it should manifest into fire.”  
 

Dipper nodded, he ran a hand through his slicked hair and rolled his shoulders back. Mabel watched him stretch his hands out and glare at his hands. His teal eyes narrowed to slits as he focused all of his might into the palm of his hand.  
 

Whether he realized it or not, her brother had started a telepathic link between the two of them and she could hear his thoughts.  
 

 ** _Why can’t I do this? Mabel did it just like THAT_**. Her brother’s face contorted with slight anger, his hands had begun to shake. **_What the hell. It. Shouldn’t. Be. This. Hard.  
_**  

Mabel frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, brother?”  
 

Dipper shrugged it off violently and scowled. **_What if he was right? What if I’m not good enough? Is this my fault for being too weak?  
_**  

“Dipper…?” Mabel weakly asked, her stomach tightened with slight fear.  
 

“I said _shut up_ , Mabel!” Her brother snapped, he growled and retracted his arms. “We’re not doing this stupid routine. Just go polish the knives or something, I’m going to go release some steam.”  
 

Mabel watched her brother storm off and felt her heart sink. She lit another small flame on her index finger before she sighed and extinguished it.  
 

It seemed that she’d _always_ be the assistant.  
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The cheery environment that waited for the outside of the curtains was one that exhilarated Mabel every time.  
 

The female twin was the party type and she went to whatever fest or party was being held so she was used to excitement and crowds; however, the adrenaline that came with performing made those instances seem like nothing. When she was up on stage with her brother, it was as if they were different people.  
 

Mabel turned and stared at the mirror off to the side. She adjusted her headband before reaching over and tightening the straps of the bow around her neck. Behind her, she could see Dipper flirting with Wendy, he wasn’t as tense as he had been an hour ago after the whole pyro fiasco, but he was definitely tense.  
 

It was at times like these that Mabel really admired Wendy for her patience. Her brother was difficult to deal with when he got moody and performing always seemed to do that to him.  
 

“You okay there, Ms. Gleeful? Do you want water?”  
 

Mabel turned to Soos and flashed him a dazzling smile before she shook her head. The handy man nodded, he immediately turned away and began to speak into his headset.  
 

The brunette tapped her foot in time with the music that was playing in the distance. Any minute now, Stan would go out there to start it all off. While he did that, she and Dipper would have to go around to the front and make their way through.  
 

Mabel looked over at her brother, who was wearing a full on suit and then down at her ensemble. She fiddled with the buttons of her teal vest and tugged her skintight leggings down to smooth them out. She definitely felt more… _exposed_ than her brother, but he had told her that people would be too busy focusing on the show than on her.  
 

That didn’t help ease Mabel’s nerves though, she knew that a majority of the young male audience was there to gawk at her. While she felt flattered that she was garnering so much attention, she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with the fanclub she’d stumbled upon weeks prior titled ‘Star Gleeful’s Hot-Ass Legs’.  
 

 _Right, Star. Out there you’re Star, you’re not Mabel. You don’t have to be held down by all the standards your family’s set for you. You just have to be yourself._ She vehemently thought to herself. 

A bell chimed in the distance and Mabel tightened her grip on her vest. She closed her eyes, how could she have forgotten? It was seven o’clock,  this was normal. There was a church nearby and the bells were there to people know that an hour had passed.

“Ready to go, Star?” She heard her brother call out.  
 

Mabel hesitantly nodded, her head seemed to ring as the bell chimed again before it broke into a twinkling tune. The brunette reached over to grab a pair of gloves and quickly slipped them on. She shuffled over to her spot near the entrance of the tent where the bells rang louder and immediately covered her ears.  
 

Her heart seemed to slow at the bell’s dulled song. She let out a sigh of relief before she felt her brother tug her hands away.  
 

“I know it bothers you, but don’t mess up your hair. We don’t have time to fix it,” he scolded. 

Mabel stared ahead, her eyes blankly focusing on a spot in the curtain. Though they weren’t there, she could feel her parent’s disapproving presence bearing down on her. They wanted her to attend high maintenance tea parties with them, not “waste her time playing with her brother.”

Even allowing her to perform was an act of defiance, it was one that the elder twin definitely prided herself in.  
 

[“ **Evening citizens of Gravity Falls and visitors! Welcome to the Tent of Telepathy!”]  
**  

Stan’s hoarse voice boomed through the speakers as he broke into some tale regarding the tent and its founding as  the twins turned to each other. Dipper had a smug smirk on his lips, Mabel felt like she wanted to throw up. She shuddered and straightened her back.  
 

 _The sound is gone, Mabel. You’re Star now and Star isn’t afraid of anything._ With that thought in the mind, she reached her hand out and took her brother's in her own.  
 

 **[“I won’t hold you back any longer, so for now, I’ll allow you to delve into the magic and mystery and allow you to meet your guides for the night! My own flesh and blood, the mysterious and charming Dipper and his counterpart, the ever so wily and beautiful Star.’]  
**  

There was a loud crack before their great-uncle burst into raucous laughter, the hissing sound of smoke being released cued them in to the fact that their intro tune would begin in mere seconds.  
 

Mabel swallowed the lump she had in her throat and squeezed her brother’s hand. Dipper gave her an encouraging smile and she felt the butterflies in her stomach ease up.  
 

The upbeat tune** started up and she felt her brother drop her hand. Luckily for her, Dipper was the one to start off.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Gideon kicked his feet, since they were dangling from the chair (curse his short height!) as the tune began to filter through the speakers. 

Beside him was Pacifica and her two friends. They’d been whispering things  to Pacifica like how the twins were extremely attractive when Stan had started talking and they’d finally shut up once. The thirteen year old was happy to note that they were still silent and listening to the song.

A male voice echoed through the tent as he sang along to the song. **“Oh, we can see, what others don’t. Believe me when I say it’s not a joke.”  
**  

 _“Where others are blind, we’re futurely inclined. But you’d see it too if you had the sight!”_ A female’s dulcet tones filled in when he stopped.  
 

Two spotlights flashed on to opposite sides of the room. To his left, stood the young man from the forest, so that meant that if he looked to the right …  
 

Gideon tensed up when he got a direct view of the girl. She looked fifty times prettier than he had remembered her.  
 

 ** _“Now stand and rise-”_** The twins said together and their  unnaturally bright green-blue eyes seemed to glow as the audience slowly got on their feet. Gideon also couldn’t fight the urge to copy everyone else.   ** _“And let us read your minds.”  
_**  

Dipper walked over to an older woman and placed a hand on his chin, his voice going along with the song’s rhythm. “ **You miss your son, you wish he’d call.”** The woman gasped and dabbed at her eyes.  
 

Star bounded over to a boy that looked a bit older than him and pouted. “ _I can see you’re desperate to find your love.”_ She jumped back when the boy reached out to her and when she did, Gideon stifled a snort.  
 

 _Maybe dad was right_ , _these twins probably planted these people_. Gideon thought to himself and rolled his eyes.  
 

The twins made their way back to the top of the stage, Dipper ran up the left and Star the right. They did a little shuffle before they spun and clasped a hand between them.  
 

“ ** _So thank you all for coming in to see us today! Welcome to the tent of Tele-Pathy!”  
_**  

The audience burst into applause, a rowdy group of teens in the corner much louder than the others. The twins let go of their hands and took a step apart.  
 

“ **Good evening everyone, my name is Dipper**.” Applause rang again and the boy seemed into bask in it. Gideon fought the urge to roll his eyes again since his friends were clapping just as hard as the rest. Dipper raised his hand to stop them and then gestured to his sister. **“And this is my esteemed counterpart, Star.”  
**  

If possible, the audience hollered even louder and for a fraction of a second Gideon watched the male twin’s eyes darken. Dipper stretched his hand out and pointed to a giant box behind them.  
 

“We’re doing something different today, Star, would you like to explain?”  
 

The brunette flipped her hair over her shoulder and if a smile could kill, Gideon felt like he would have died ten times.  
 

“Well, today we’re spicing things up a bit! To begin, we need an audience volunteer!”  
 

In an instant, Gideon saw hands go flying throughout the audience. He heard Pacifica chuckle beside him as she leaned toward him, “This is crazy, Giddy. These people are so tense, haha, look at Annie and Tiff!”  
 

Gideon poked his head out a bit and saw that the two girls were waving their hands high in the air.  
 

“Who to pick, who to pick,” Star chimed.  
 

His blue eyes looked up and his heart nearly stopped when he saw that she was right in front of them. While her mouth was a straight line, her eyes glinted with amusement.  
 

The brunette’s eyes seemed to rove over the audience before they landed on their group. Star’s lips quirked upward into a smile as she reached over. Gideon felt his heart pound loudly in his chest, he just couldn’t believe it so he had to shut his eyes. Out of all the people, she could have picked, she’d chosen-  
 

“Well, you’re an _adorable_ one, aren’t you?” The older girl’s voice was husky and just sounded so close.  
 

When he opened them up, he almost fainted at the proximity.  
 

“Come on now, don’t be shy,” Star laughed.  
 

Gideon shrugged uncomfortably, he stared down at the ground, he knew his cheeks were flushed and he didn’t want anyone to see. He could hear Tiffany and Annie whispering encouragingly.  
 

“Come on, ‘Cifica, you heard her!”  
 

“Yeah, ‘Cif, go on!”  
 

Gideon mustered up the courage to look again, but stopped himself.

   
_Wait, ‘Cifica? I’m not-_ The teenager looked at Star and he saw that she was reaching out a hand to Pacifica who was staring at her with her eyes wide in shock.  
 

When the blonde didn’t move, Gideon nudged her encouragingly, “Go on, Pazzy.”

Pacifica took the brunette’s hand and Gideon watched as the girl’s face lit up triumphantly. He heard some of the people jealously grumbling in the distance, but he couldn’t help but squee with glee along with Pacifica’s friends.  
 

Star led her onto the stage and they stopped when they reached Dipper.  
 

 **“Hello, young lady. What’s your name?** ” He asked and offered her a mic.  
 

 **“P-Pacifica.”** Gideon snickered, he had never heard his normally overconfident friend sound so nervous before.  
 

“Are you recording this, Tiff?” He heard the redhead beside him ask.  
 

“Yes, now shush, Annie, this is pure gold,” the curly-haired brunette giggled.  
 

“ **It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pah-Cih-Fi-Cah,”** Star enunciated every syllable and tightly wound herself against the blonde’s arm.  
 

Pacifica’s face was as a red as a tomato and Gideon was so glad that her friends were recording this.  
 

 **“What we need you to do is go into that box over there. We promise that no harm will come to you** ,” Dipper stated. “ **Star, if you may?”  
**  

The brunette tugged Pacifica toward the box. She beamed at her encouragingly and Gideon couldn’t help, but feel a bit jealous that it wasn’t him on the receiving end. He could see that she and Pacifica were chatting and at one point, Star had stumbled, her own face extremely red as Pacifica’s had been earlier.  
 

 _I wonder what they’re talking about_. Gideon thought.  
 

Once Pacifica was in the box and Star had locked it up. Dipper turned back to the audience.  
 

 **“What you’re about to see here, folks is something that shouldn’t be tried at home!”** He shouted.  
 

The male twin walked over to a table in the back and brought out a set of swords. He seemed to examine it momentarily before stabbing it into the side of the box. Gideon, along with the rest of the audience, let out horrified gasps.  
 

“ **How about we just finish the job all at once, hmm?** ” He asked and his eyes glowed brighter under the fluorescent lighting of the stage.  
 

Gideon watched at least ten blades rise into the air, they were all covered with a faint teal aura. Dipper lifted his hand and the blades arranged themselves around the box.  
 

 **“Now, let it go.** ” He smiled and swung his arm downwards.  
 

The thirteen year old watched in horror as all the blades jammed themselves into different spots on the box. Tiffany and Annie were watching with a mix of fear and amusement on their faces. Gideon bit his lip, Pacifica was definitely fine. There was no way they’d actually kill her, right?  
 

 **“I do wonder what has happened to our dear guest, Star,”** Dipper stated, he eyed the box expectantly.  
 

“ **I am quite curious as well, brother, we should find out.”  
**  

Dipper snapped his finger and the box burst into flames. The look of utter delight on the twin’s faces as the box began to burn made Gideon’s stomach squeeze uncomfortably. He gripped the armrest tightly and frowned.  
 

When there was nothing left of the box and the blades had clattered to the ground, he saw that it was empty. Instead of commenting on it, the twins continued on with the show leaving Gideon along with the two girls to look at each other.  
 

Where was Pacifica?  
 

Gideon felt his heart begin to race at the thought of his now missing friend. The twins had performed another routine where Dipper had thrown a dagger at an apple on top of Star’s head.  
 

“ **For our final trick of the night, we’re going to change gears a little. Give us just a moment as we prepare for it.”  
**  

Dipper and Star walked over to the large metallic frame and he immediately began to strap her into it. Once he was done, Dipper gave the audience a thumbs-up  and grabbed a curtain that was near him. He began to tug it around his sister until he had fully circled around her.  
 

 _Oh, they’re doing the Assistant’s Revenge trick!_ Gideon sat up in his seat and leaned in closer. He’d seen it done various times at other magic shows he’d been to and he had never quite figured out the mechanism.  
 

Once Dipper had made his way around, he frowned. _Wait isn’t he supposed to be gone?  
_  

The male twin tugged the curtain back to its origin and instead of Star being there like she had been before, the audience found themselves facing Pacifica.  
 

“ **Oh, that’s where she went! Now where did my dear sister go?** ” Dipper asked in a voice that almost seemed genuinely surprised.  
 

A spotlight roamed over the audience before Gideon caught a flash of teal off to his side. He glanced to his left and almost fell out of his seat when he saw the female twin leaning against a pillar beside them.  
 

 **“Ta-dah** ,” Star grinned and made her way back to the stage to help Dipper in freeing their volunteer. The brunette put her arm around the blonde’s waist and smirked. **“And thanks to our audience volunteer for having such a _unique_ fashion sense and being _so_ helpful.”  
**  

Pacifica seemed to fidget under the girl’s grip as the twins let out bows. The blonde bowed along with them the second time before Star dropped her arm from around her waist. Loud music filled the tent once more as a majority of the audience started to file out. Gideon glanced back at the stage momentarily just in time to see Star pull away from the side of Pacifica’s face.  
 

He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but the blonde had gone horribly red in the face and wouldn’t say a word as to what happened when she rejoined them.  
 

Gideon knew a few things for sure though.  
 

One, was that he was definitely crushing on Star Gleeful.  
 

Two, the twins were definitely hiding something. There was just no way that they’d be able to do all their tricks without some sort of knowledge.  
 

With that in mind, Gideon enjoyed his ride to the shack home. He didn’t even care that Pacifica and her friends were teasing him about how flustered he’d gotten when Star hadn’t even approached him.

  



	4. The Feeling Inside

 

Mabel _hated_ hiking and her brother did too, which confounded her as to why he'd woken her up at nine in the morning even though he _knew_ she'd be suffering from a killer hangover.

 

The elder twin groaned, her backpack was weighing her down and the sun was way too bright for her liking. Even her sunglasses couldn't do anything about the exceedingly bright rays at their high altitude.

 

"So tell me again _why_ we're out in the middle of nowhere?" She hissed.

 

Dipper looked up from his book, he seemed to scan his surroundings. His teal eyes paused momentarily on her and he continued to walk again. The brunet remained silent as he continued flipping through pages of the journal.

 

" _Okay_ , _don't_ answer me. That works too," Mabel grumbled, she reached around the side of her bag and pulled out a water bottle.  She took a few sips and returned it to its original place.

 

"You're slowing us down," Dipper commented.

 

Mabel looked up at him, he had somehow gotten at least a good eight feet away. The teen rolled her eyes and sulked after him.

 

Their hike had been a repeated cycle of this. Her brother was moody again and she had no idea why. He hadn't made a peep or hinted at a possible cause.

 

Their silent trek continued until they made their way to the top of the hill. Mabel craned her neck and adjusted her shades. All there was to see was trees and distant clearings. Still no clues as to why they were out in the woods.

 

The brunette pursed her lips, she removed the hair tie she had on her wrist and placed it between her lips. As she adjusted her hair so she could place it into a ponytail, she tried to reflect on things that would make her brother act like this.

 

 _Okay, he was acting strange the moment I show him I could summon fire_. Mabel rolled her eyes, she tightened her lips around the elastic and pushed her memory as far as she could. _Then we had the show and-_

 

The brunette winced in pain as her head throbbed, the elastic slid from her lips  landed on the dirt before her. Mabel silently cursed and reached down to grab it.

 

Her eyes widened with realization.

 

 _Wait, a ponytail. Blue eyes... blonde hair?_ Mabel pressed her left hand against her head and pushed past the throbbing to think more.

 

The after party following the show had been a bit wild. Wendy knew how to throw them perfectly and she'd invited at least half the town. Even the town's two useless police officers had shown up, but they'd gotten wasted before anything was serious.

 

Mabel tugged her hair into a low ponytail and  wiped the sweat that was dripping down her brow.

 

The memory of a flushed blonde was prominent in her mind, but the girl hadn't been at the party. Mabel scowled and kicked a pebble on the ground in frustration. It's not like the girl was important anyway. She had managed to fluster her _once_ and that was because she'd just looked _so_ adorable and frightened that it'd caught her off guard.

 

"If you keep frowning like that, you'll get unwanted wrinkles."

 

Dipper's voice was blunt and she immediately felt his hands on her face. His teal eyes were narrowed in anger before he harshly pressed her cheeks together. "Come on, don't ruin your face too young or you'll have to cake on makeup like mom."

 

Her brother dropped his hands and Mabel pressed her own against her now stinging cheeks. When he turned around, she pulled out her phone and aimed the frontal camera at herself to see why he'd gotten worked up. She saw nothing out of the ordinary and scowled.

 

 _I'll never be like the woman who spawned me. **Never**_. She bitterly thought, her eyebrows furrowing as she glared into her phone.

 

Her parents were superficial and being descended from the town's founders only inflated their ego. If anything they spent the tons of money she and Dipper earned from their shows to go on trips around the world and meet with other celebrities.

 

The only thing their parents had done was train them to act in public. Well, specifically her, Dipper was the perfect little boy in their eyes. It was Mabel who had been the problem child.

 

"Mabel, I already told you to stop frowning."

 

Her brother's voice snapped her out of her reverie, he sounded disgruntled. His back was to her, but he continued walking so she followed.

 

"You _know_ you're the _real_ face of the show. Without you we wouldn't have half our fans. That means we can't have the _sex appeal_ looking out of sorts, can we?" Dipper offhandedly stated, though his sarcasm was not missed. He briefly faced her with a smug smirk on his face and missed her death glare.  "Not only would mom probably make you join her for Botox appointments, but Wendy _would_ -"

 

Her brother's voice seemed to catch in his throat, his eyes took on a childlike sadness and he rapidly stalked away.  

 

A memory jumped out at Mabel from the previous night. At the party, she'd been too busy lounging with Candy and Grenda to pay too much attention to her surroundings, but she'd definitely noticed their manager hanging out with the greasy nerd from the Mystery Shack.

 

Realization sparked behind her teal eyes and Mabel felt herself frown again. Dipper knew that Wendy was older than him and she wasn't fully comfortable with dating a seventeen year old.

 

Mabel felt her anger at him falter, but only momentarily.

 

 _His crush is cute and all, but if he's going to act like a spoiled brat, then he deserves it_. Mabel bitterly thought. She glared at her brother's back and could almost imagine her sight boring a hole into it. So strong that even the air itself was starting to smell like burnt fabric-

 

"Mabel, what the _hell_!"

 

The brunette blinked twice and stared at her brother in mortification. His backpack had combusted and he was fumbling with the straps to take it off. Once he finally did, he tossed it the ground and furiously stomped on it.

 

"D-dipper, I'm sorry, I-" Mabel stammered out an apology, but the venomous glare in her brother's eyes made her words catch in her throat.

 

Dipper immediately unzipped his bag and pulled at the contents. He was angrily muttering to himself and Mabel felt her stomach sink knowing that she was to blame. It wasn’t _fully_ her fault though, pyrokinesis was new to her and it’s not like she’d _wanted_ to set him on fire... _well,_ she’d been upset, but it had been a complete accident.

 

When her brother finished assessing the damage, he stood up and put his backpack back on.

 

Neither of the twins spoke and it bothered Mabel that her brother wouldn't meet her eyes. The only time the tension between them had been this thick had been when that stupid demon had possessed her brother all those years ago, but Dipper had gotten over that, _right_?

 

"Brother...?" Mabel asked, her question lingered in the air, unable to cut through the tension that had formed.

 

Dipper walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. His bangs were covering his eyes, but she could already feel how upset he was, he didn't even have to say a word to make her feel guilty.

 

Mabel was so focused on her brother's tightening grip on her shoulder that she barely felt the telepathic link between them connect. She didn't have time to question it.

 

In mere seconds all she could hear was the deafening ringing of bells. The elder twin tore from her brother's gasp and immediately covered her ears. Her eyes were wide and her fingernails desperately bore into her hair. Her attempt to quiet the noise was for naught, it was all in her mind.

 

"You will **not** do that to me ever again," Dipper hissed, his voice barely audible over the dissonant chimes.

 

Mabel dropped to her knees, her hands using her hair as a muffle, but that only seemed to make the sound worse. Her brother was implementing the sound directly in her mind.

 

"I _won't_ , I'm _sorry_. It was an _accident_ ," she cried, her eyes shutting tight to keep her embarrassed tears from flowing.

 

"Accident or not we can't have it happen again. You need to learn to _control_ yourself," he barked and then it hit Mabel how hard her brother was hurting.

 

The brunette realized why exactly she’d been brought along on this trip. Dipper was upset because he thought he’d been one-upped by the nerd from the Shack so he was projecting all his anger on her. It wasn't _fucking_ fair.

 

Though loose tears had started to stream down her cheeks, she forced herself to sneer. She wasn't going to let her brother have the satisfaction of winning.

 

"Am _I_ the one who needs to control myself? Look at you, you're exploiting other's weaknesses. You're becoming _just_. _like_. _our._ **_parents_** ," Mabel growled, using what power she could she forced an image of her brother looming over her with a bell in his hands into his mind.

 

Dipper's face softened, his eyes widened in mortification. "I- I."

 

The brunet seemed to do a double take. Dipper took a step back and covered his eyes with his hands. "NO. I'm _not_ like them. I'll **never** be like them." He tore a hand away from his face and jabbed a finger in her directions. " **YOU'LL** BE LIKE THEM BEFORE ME."

 

Mabel's momentary control of the situation seemed to lapse, along with the bells, her brother flooded her with her disciplinary lessons of the past.

 

 _Why, why, is he - doing this?!_ She thought, her eyes scrunched up tightly. Her headache had returned and the pain was unbearable. _What did I do?_

 

 ** _Nothing_**. A voice in the back of her head told her. _You **did nothing wrong. Your brother is exerting control over you because he lacks courage. He cannot face Wendy himself so he's taking it out on you**_.

 

Mabel's eyes flickered to the dirt beneath her, the few tears that had rolled down her cheeks had colored it. Without thinking, she grasped at her headband and tore it off.

 

 _Just a throw and it'll be over. I can be normal. I don't need this_. She felt her heart hammer against her chest and raised her hand. Mabel had been about to throw her amulet into the ground when she felt her arm stiffen. The cacophony of bells ceased to play  and she saw Dipper eyeing her in shock.

 

"You- You're willing to give it all up just like that?" He asked in bewilderment. Dipper returned her sneer and kneeled down in front of her, "See, no wonder you're just the _sideshow_. You’ve never made a sacrifice for the good of the tent.You'll _never_ be as good as me."

 

Mabel scowled at him. "At least I'm sure _I_ can impress Wendy more than some greasy nerd. You really are losing your touch, _dear_ _brother_. Maybe I should hook you up with Candy if you're desperate."

 

Dipper's face went as red as tomato. If this was a cartoon, Mabel figured he'd have steam pouring from his ears. "Y-you take that back! Wendy isn't going to be with t-that...that _plebeian_. I **won't** _allow_ it!"

 

Her brother took a step away from her. He pinched the bridge of his nose like he usually did to recompose himself. Mabel tore her gaze away from him and stared up at the sky. The ringing had died down with her brother's anger, but she still felt cold and empty.

 

"Go home, Mabel. I don't know why you came along today, but you're just wasting my time," her brother said after some silence.

 

At that, the elder twin couldn't control her pent-up anger.

 

"Excuse you? You practically _forced_ me to come with you," she hissed. Mabel shakily stood up and stormed toward her brother, she jabbed a finger into his chest and glared. "I honestly can't believe you're trying to pull a victim card after what you just did to me."

 

Her brother's eyes were wide with surprise, he took a step back, but when she did she stepped forward.

 

"I get it, you're upset that Wendy is getting along well with someone, but you can't take it out on me!" She half-shrieked. “I’m your _sister_!”

 

Watching Dipper continue shrinking down further egged her on. Mabel scowled and turned away from.

 

" _Whatever_ , I don't want to be here anyways. Talk to me when you’ve actually slept. You look like a fucking _zombie_ ," she told him.

 

Mabel placed her headband back on and walked toward the edge of the hill. Dipper remained silent behind her and it only solidified her reasoning for heading out.

 

It wasn't until Mabel had started sliding down the hillside with the power of her amulet that her brother had taken her seriously. But by then it was already too late.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

"Dipper's been known to be melodramatic, it shouldn't be bothering you this much."

 

Candy plopped down onto the bed and collapsed onto Mabel's back so her head was resting on it. They were currently in Grenda's house, the elder twin had shown up near tears while her friends tried to get her out her funk.

 

"Yeah, he can be emotional, but this was ... _different_ ," Mabel replied.

 

The brunette eyed Grenda who was pacing in front of the bed. The taller girl seemed to be deep in thought. Her brown eyes flickered over to them and she spoke, "I've told you this once before, Mabel. As your bodyguard, I will not allow harm to come to you. Even if it is your brother."

 

Grenda caught her fist with her free hand and frowned to show that she meant business. Mabel offered her a weak smile before burrowing her face in the bed's blanket.

 

Candy had begun to hum and the vibrations of her shuffling around felt soothing on Mabel's back. Even if her childhood friends didn't know _all_ her secrets, she was glad she could come to them for _something_.

 

"How did the show go by the way? Due to prior arrangements, I couldn't make it," Candy asked, though Mabel knew her eyes were most likely glued to her phone screen.

 

The Korean teen ran a popular blog and if anything it was through cooperating with the tech genius that Wendy helped advertise them so much.

 

"It wasn't bad. People seemed to like the audience interaction," Mabel mumbled.

 

Now that her head was clearer, she could picture the blonde girl she'd brought up. She'd been so... nervous and while usually that was a characteristic that Mabel saw as weakness, she'd found it rather endearing.

 

The brunette could have easily chosen her friend. The young boy had looked like he was about to pass out when she approached them. Mabel wrapped her arms tight around the pillow she was lying on.

 

 _Pacifica, huh?_ She thought. Mabel bit her lip and let out a quiet groan. _I flirted **waay** too much with her. If that wasn't part of 'Star's' character, Dipper would probably have run for the hills and told our parents._

 

"Oh, you two have started recording the shows right? Maybe you can base your report off of that, Cands!"

 

Grenda's low voice interrupted Mabel's thoughts. She felt Candy shift as the teen spoke up.

 

"You're right, Grenda! I'll ask Wendy and review the tapes then so I can write up my review," Candy stated and Mabel stilled.

 

Her friends had known her long enough to know when she was acting up. What had happened last night, when she’d stumbled on stage, was something Candy would definitely notice.

 

Most people would overlook it, the audience and her brother certainly did, but Candy was meticulous, especially when it came to her blog. If for some reason, the video had captured the final seconds of the show when she’d actually _kissed_ the blonde’s cheek…

  
Mabel shuddered.

 

“Are you okay Mabel? I can turn the heat up if you wa-” Grenda started, but the brunette quickly cut in.

 

“YUP! I’m _great_!” She answered a bit too quickly, she propped herself up on her elbows and turned to look back at Candy. “I’ll let her know for you, you should get it tomorrow.”

 

The dark-haired teen peered up at her, her contacts made her eyes seem unnaturally blue and brighter. “Why tomorrow? I can just ask her today, she’s probably going to be at that party tonight.”

 

Mabel frowned. “What party?”

 

Grenda took a seat by the foot of her bed and grinned. “The party at the Shack! We know you don’t like that place much, but it’s a party!”

 

“Why’s the Mystery Shack having a party?”

 

“Old man Pine’s kid came to visit so he’s throwing a bash. Should be pretty great,” Candy casually stated. She quickly rifled through her phone and showed it to her. “Most social media in our area is talking about it and a party isn’t a party without Mabel Gleeful.”

 

The brunette took her friend’s phone in her hands and examined the various tabs she had open. Candy was correct, the town was buzzing about it. She’d almost dropped the phone when she read a _YikYak_ regarding her.

 

“So people are hoping my ‘fine ass’ is showing to the party?” She added with disgust and handed Candy her phone back.

 

The conversation with Dipper  rang through her head. She was _not_ the sex appeal. That would mean that she was just there for her looks. People appreciated her more than that, _right_?

 

Candy resumed her scrolling

 

“Fine ass or not-”

 

“ _Hey,_ ” Mabel interrupted and Candy rolled her eyes before gently patting her on the head. The brunette pouted as she pressed her face into her pillow.

 

“ _Anyways_ , I think we should go. Your brother hates the Shack more than you do, so why not get back at him by going to the one place he hates the most?”

 

“That’s a great idea, Cands! I think you should do it, Mabel. You’ll def feel better,” Grenda pointed out.

 

“Whether you decide to go or not, we’re watching that video. Wendy just emailed it to me and it shouldn’t be more than an hour long.”

 

Mabel turned to Candy who was reaching over for her bag to dig out her laptop. She was honestly impressed with her friend’s dexterity, but that also meant that there would be no avoiding the scrutiny.

 

“Haha, yeah. Let’s _definitely_ do that,” Mabel nervously chimed.

 

The amplified buzzing of her own phone caught the trio’s attention. Candy removed her head from her back and allowed her to sit up. Mabel pulled out her phone and looked at the caller.

 

It was her brother.

 

She glared down at the picture she had of him before pressing the power button. The screen faded into black and she placed it back into her pocket.

 

“Alright, you’ve convinced me. Looks like we’re going to the Shack tonight.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Obnoxiously loud and upbeat music could be heard from outside of the shack.

 

Mabel and her friends had arrived fashionably late, but even that hadn’t stopped people from approaching them. It had taken Grenda’s glares and Candy’s veiled threats to get them to back off enough to approach the door.

 

“Ten dollars for a ticket? I thought you said this was free?” Mabel asked Candy.

 

“Hey, that’s like nothing for you anyway, isn’t it? A party _is_ a party,” she replied.

 

The brunette rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. She was wearing her usual shades of teal, but instead of a fancy outfit similar to her performing ensemble, she settled for a teal cardigan with a black undershirt and white short shorts. It was a rather simple outfit, but she wasn’t shooting for extravagant anyway. Candy and Grenda wore accessory green and purple outfits, respectively.

 

“Whatever, here have a hundred and keep the change,” Mabel told the person at the counter, she hadn’t even bothered looking at them until she heard a familiar voice.

 

“ _Mabel?_ I never expected _you_ to attend one of these parties.”

 

The brunette turned and found her meeting the green eyes of her manager. Aka, the person who had initiated the mess of a situation that had essentially ruined her day. Beside Wendy was the dark-haired nerd she always found her associating with.

 

“I wanted a change of pace. Can’t always be hitting up high-class parties, have to mingle with the lower classes now and then,” Mabel stated, keeping her voice as level as possible.

 

“Well, normal people don’t carry around hundreds in their pockets,” the man said.

 

Just what was his name again? Dipper had mentioned it, but she’d been too annoyed to really pay attention.

 

_Ralph?_

 

Wendy playfully slapped him on his arm and shyly smiled. It would be cute if the redhead wasn’t her brother’s source of obsession.

 

 _Ravi*?_ _Definitely something like that._

 

“What? I’m serious, Wendy. What if this is counterfeit? I already have Bud running an illegal side business, I can’t have more of this crap flowing in the system,” he complained.

 

“Trust me, Robbie, Mabel’s a Gleeful. Also, I’m her manager. A hundred dollars is like pocket change for them,” Wendy stated and Mabel had to keep from glaring at her for acting like she wasn’t there.

 

 _Maybe I can do Dipper a favor and ruin their friendship. That would prevent any development of feelings and get me back in his favor._ She thought, but dismissed the thought when she felt Candy nudge her.

 

“He said we can go in, do you want to stand in the cold all night or party?”

 

Mabel scowled and pushed past her friends. The inside of the shack seemed to have been mostly cleared. Furniture had been hastily pushed to the side and the room was covered in scintillating colorful lights. A DJ stand was set up in the corner of the crowded room, a purple-haired woman who she recognized as the manager of the Shack stood behind it.

 

From the corner of her eyes, Mabel saw her friends aching to go out. She sighed and gestured ahead of her so they could walk on.

 

The brunette observed the people in the crowd. There were a bunch of teens grinding up against each other and others dancing in small groups. She recognized most through school, but there were also some unfamiliar faces.

 

Mabel strode over to the punch table, she had placed a small bottle of vodka in her purse just in case things had gotten boring, but so far watching the room of hormone ridden teens proved to be fairly amusing. After she’d poured herself a ladle of what she was sure was going to be sickeningly sweet flavored water, she scanned the room for her friends.

 

Candy and Grenda were teasing a small white-haired boy. It seemed that Grenda had taken his hat and was dangling it far above her head using the height difference to her advantage.

 

Mabel smirked and sipped at her drink. She almost immediately regretted the decision, the drink was _far_ too sugary for her tastes and she could still feel its sticky residue even after she’d downed the rest of it.

 

“Yeah, I think that Giddy slipped too much sugar in when we made it.”

 

At the sudden melodic voice, Mabel’s head turned to the right and she felt her stomach leap. The blonde, Pacifica, from the show was there and she actually looked kind of cute wearing that multi-colored windbreaker.

 

 _Wait **What?**_ _Mabel, this isn’t you. That’s **Star.** Control yourself._

 

“Yeah, it’s really disgusting,” Mabel curtly replied and gave her cup to a passing boy. “Throw it out for me?”

 

The boy’s expression changed from anger to awe as he quickly realized who she was. He then happily took the cup and ran away. Mabel hoped to dear god that he wasn’t some creep, though with the _YikYak_ she’d read earlier and the ones that had flowed after, she wouldn’t be surprised.

 

“Sooooo… um, Star, what brings you to the shack?” Pacifica asked.

 

“Parties aren’t parties unless a Gleeful is there,” she nonchalantly answered, not even bothering to look over at her, she could picture that awestruck look that most people gave her and her smirk grew wider.

 

The incoming reply wiped the smile from her lips.

 

“That’s a bit narcissistic, don’t you think?”

 

Mabel turned to the blonde and glared at her. Over Pacifica’s shoulders, she could see Candy and Grenda approaching her. Her heart sank as she realized that Candy would quickly connect the dots and see who exactly she was talking to.

 

“I’m a Gleeful, narcissistic or not, it _is_ true,” she bitterly said.

 

“Everything alright here, Mabel?” Grenda’s gruff voice asked.

 

Mabel looked at her friends and saw the taller girl looking like she was ready to pummel someone. She raised her hand in a ‘stop’ motion and turned back to Pacifica who was eyeing her curiously.

 

“Wait, your name’s Mabel?”

 

“Yeah, what did you think it was?” Candy cut in before she could speak.

 

The blonde turned to look at the Korean girl and smiled. The twinkle in her eyes made something inside Mabel’s stomach churn. The brunette swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and maneuvered herself so she was closer to the other two girls.

 

“I guess it is a _bit_ silly now that I think about it. Star being a real name?” Pacifica laughed, but it began to die down when she saw no one was laughing along with her.

 

Mabel could feel Candy’s eyes on her. She spared her a quick look and watched a mischievous grin form on her face.

 

“ _So_ Pacifica, how is it that you know Mabel?”

 

The elder twin’s stomach clenched and she shot her friend a death glare. Candy was going to try to weed information out of the blonde and if Mabel didn’t stop her, then she’d be spreading gossip about her.

 

 _Friend or not, Candy can be vicious_. She thought.

 

“Well, last night at the tent she and her brother were performing. They did some audience choosing thing and I got picked,” Pacifica innocently piped, she eyed Mabel excitedly, but she returned her attention back to Candy.

 

“Oh, _interesting_. You moved into town this year, right?” A nod. “If you had the chance, do you think you’d go on a date with Mabel?”

 

Either it was by pure chance that Pacifica had decided to take a sip of her drink at that moment, but her reaction ended up in one of the most fortunately unfortunate things that Mabel Gleeful had ever experienced.

 

After being sprayed in the face with the sugary unnaturally scarlet liquid, Mabel’s friends took over the situation for her.

 

“How _dare_ you,” Grenda growled and Mabel froze.

 

_Oh no, if I don’t stop her, she could actually do some damage._

 

“Wait, Grenda-” Mabel started, but Candy interrupted once more.

 

“Ah, that was a horrible mistake, Ms. Southwest. You have made one horrible enemy.”

 

“I-I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose!” Pacifica apologized, the slight tremble in her voice showed how scared she was.

 

Mabel peered at Grenda’s face and saw the girl giving the blonde one of her most menacing glares. By the look of the terrified expression on Pacifica’s voice Mabel had realized was right.

 

The brunette took off her cardigan and wiped her face. Distant voices sounded clearer and she found herself extremely annoyed to see that people had taken notice of the drama and were recording it.

 

To cement any more thoughts Candy could have of her liking Pacifica, the brunette jabbed a finger into the blonde’s chest and frowned.

 

“You’re lucky that I don’t sue you and ruin your family,” Mabel told her, she pushed her dirtied cardigan into the blonde’s hands and turned away. “You can _keep_ that.”

 

Teal eyes noted two figures rushing over from the other side of the room and toward the blonde. The curly-haired brunette and redhead started a yelling match with Grenda and Candy.

 

“It’s not worth it, you two. This party was lame anyway,” Mabel told her friends in a controlled tone.

 

Candy tugged a furious Grenda away from the two shouting girls and Mabel looked between them only to see that Pacifica was gone. She felt her stomach tighten as she stormed toward the door.

 

On her way out of the shack, she saw Robbie making out with the purple-haired DJ.

 

Mabel turned her phone back on. When it finally loaded up, she dialed up Dipper’s number.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Had she _misunderstood_ something?

 

Pacifica sat on the fallen tree where she and Gideon had discovered the journal. She looked down at the dirtied cardigan in her hands and frowned.

 

"Stupid  _Star_ ," she shouted in frustration. The blonde made the cardigan into a ball and chucked it on the ground. "No wait, stupid  _Mabel_  and her perfect hair. No, screw her perfect face and those pretty eyes, and UGH."

 

The teal cardigan seemed to glow in the moonlight. Pacifica wiped a frustrated tear away and stood up. Before the two other girls, she’d heard Mabel call them Candy and Grenda, had arrived, the brunette had seemed tame.

 

 _People always show their true colors eventually though._ Pacifica bitterly thought and kicked the rolled up garment on the ground.

 

 ** _“G-gee, you s-seem really upset_** _,”_ a timid, barely audible voice said.

 

Pacifica whirled around and examined her surroundings. She had been sure when she’d entered the woods she was alone. The blonde brought her hands up in a fighting stance, her blue eyes scoured the area for the other person.

 

“W-who are you?!” She asked, her voice seemed to bounce off the trees and the emptiness of the area brought a chill up her spine.

 

 ** _“Don’t be afraid, I-I won’t hurt you!”_** The timid voice called out again.

 

Pacifica backed up, her eyes darting about in search of whoever was with her. When she turned her head to the left, she found an eye peering back at her.

 

“AH!” She screamed and stumbled backwards, only to have her legs catch on the fallen tree and for her to fall over. She jutted out her arm to soften her fall, but slipped and her back hit the dirt.

 

**_“A-Are you alright?”_ **

 

Pacifica rubbed her aching arm and peered up only to find herself staring back at a glowing blue triangle whose _eye_ was eyeing her worriedly.

 

The blonde let out another scream before the triangle raised its hands, the environment seemed to drain of color as everything went a dull shade of gray. Pacifica raised her head and saw an owl frozen in midflight. The more she examined her surroundings, the more she noted that everything around them had gone still.

 

“W-what the heck are you?” She asked.

 

The triangle clapped its hands excitedly and held one out to her as if he was trying to help her up. **_“My name is Llib! Llib Rehpic!”_**

 

“Yib…?” Pacifica questioned and the triangle bounced in place. She hesitantly reached out and took his hand and stood up.

 

 ** _“Y-yes, well, no, it’s L-l-i-b,”_** the triangle said and slashed his arm, azure flames appearing to spell out each letter.

 

“Ookay, Llib, um, what _are_ you?”

 

The blue triangle removed his top hat and it was just then that Pacifica noticed that he was also wearing a bowtie.

 

 ** _“I’m what you’d call a dream guardian_**!” He excitedly said. Llib gestured to the grey landscape around them and continued, **_“What you’re in right now is called the mindscape.”_**

 

“The...mindscape?”

 

 ** _“Yup! It’s my realm of being and you’re one of the lucky few that’ll ever get to see it!”_** Llib quietly laughed.

 

“Are you going to steal my soul now?” Pacifica nervously asked, she plopped down onto the fallen tree again and stared at the fallen cardigan.

 

Was it possible that Mabel had sent him to finish her off? Looking at how her friends had treated her, she wouldn’t be surprised.

 

 ** _“No, dear Llama! On the contrary, I-I’m here to help you!”_** Llib excitedly said.

 

The triangle floated over to the fallen cardigan, he raised his arm and Pacifica watched it begin to glow before it rose into the air beside him.

 

 ** _“Those twins are mean!”_** Llib pouted, or at least Pacifica thought he was from his tone of voice.

 

Suddenly, the floating cardigan burst into blue flames and Pacifica had to keep herself from jumping and falling over again. The smell of burning fabric filled the area, the once beautiful garment reduced to ashes in mere seconds.

 

“W-why did you do that?” Pacifica looked back over at the pile of ashes and frowned. She’d hoped that maybe one day she could return it to Mabel as a peace offering.

 

**_“Oh, d-do you want it back?”_ **

 

Llib snapped his fingers. The blonde watched in awe as the ashes floated up into the air and began to rearrange themselves. The cardigan reformed and hovered over. Pacifica took it into her hands, her eyes returning back to the triangle.

 

“Why did you call me Llama? My name’s Pacifica.”

****

**_“Oh, it’s just that in my wheel that’s what you are!”_** Llib explained, he crossed his arms as a look of fear presented itself in his eye. **_“I’m here in your world t-to make friends! I have a feeling that Pine Tree and Shooting Star will start looking for me soon and I’m scared.”_**

 

“Pine Tree and… Shooting Star?”

 

 ** _“Oh, yes, it’s what the twins are on my wheel… t-they’re kind of scary_**.”

 

Pacifica frowned. If Llib was able to manipulate reality like he had just now, just how dangerous were the Gleefuls?

 

Pacifica felt queasy at the thought of someone like Mabel harming such an innocent being like Llib.  The triangle seemed to mean well and there was no way she was going to let harm come to him.

 

“Well, if you _do_ need a friend, then I’ll be yours!”

 

 ** _“R-really?”_** Llib peered back at her, she watched a lone tear stream down his body.

 

“Of course! You can bet on it!”

 

The dream guardian rubbed at his eye and Pacifica could the excited warmth he was emanating.

 

**_“T-thanks! Now I’m sure you want to head back, huh?”_ **

 

The blonde bit her lip, if she was going to head back that might mean she’d risk running into Mabel again. She tightened her grip on the cardigan. Well, it’s not like she could leave Gideon to fend with the twins on his own.

 

“Yeah, I’m good to go.”

 

The grey around them immediately evaporated. The owl began to move again, a gentle breeze fluttered the leaves of a nearby tree, and Pacifica hugged the cardigan for warmth.

 

**_“Well, we’ll see each other again soon, I-I’m sure!”_ **

 

Pacifica smiled at the triangle and nodded back. “I’ll see you around, Llib.”

 

The dream guardian bowed a little and took off his hat again. His squeaky voice stammered out his farewell. **_“Keep it in mind, Pacifica. R-reality is an illusion, the universe is a h-hologram, b-buy gold, bye!”_**

 

As the triangle began to glow, Pacifica caught a glimpse of a wheel appearing behind him, a white marker circled it once before there was a flash of light and Llib disappeared.

 

Pacifica stared at the air where the dream guardian had been moments prior. She stood there in the forest until she heard her name being called.

 

“Pacificaaa, are you okay?” Came Tiffany and Annie’s voices.

 

The blonde turned back to the area of the fallen tree before pressing the cardigan up to her nose. The unmistakable smoky smell that still lingered proved she hadn't been hallucinating. The realization brought a small smile on her face.

 

Pacifica took off toward the shack and found her friends, surprisingly Gideon was with them.

 

“What? There’s no way Star Gleeful did that!” Gideon pouted.

 

Tiffany rolled her eyes and tugged down his cap. “You don’t know her like we do, kiddo.”

 

“Yeah, Mabel’s a vindictive little bitc- Oh, Pacifica!” Annie cut herself off and launched herself at her.

 

Pacifica returned the hug with one arm as the other was still cradling the cardigan. After assuring her friends that everything was alright, the quartet made their way into the Shack.

 

To her relief, it appeared that the Gleeful twin along with her lackeys had departed.

 

Pacifica looked back down at the cardigan in her hands before walking over to the redhead she’d seen last night.

 

“This is Mabel’s, can you give it back to her?” She asked.

 

Green eyes scrutinized her momentarily before a soft smile graced her lips. The short-haired woman took the cardigan and thanked her.

 

Pacifica trudged back over to her friends, the party was still going on, but she had a sinking feeling deep in her stomach.

 

The blonde raised her hand and tenderly placed it against her cheek. Her fingers traced the spot where Star’s, no wait, _Mabel’s_ lips had pressed the night before. She let out a low sigh, she had to admit the brunette _was_ attractive and she had approached her in hopes of finding out why she’d done it.

 

However, any trace of feelings Pacifica could possibly develop for her had been stomped on by her friends. Grenda and Candy seemed like horrible people and for Mabel to willingly surround herself with them?

 

Pacifica shuddered.

 

It was a wonder that Gideon was still defending her.

 

 _His crush is cute, but maybe I should let him know the truth about her._ Pacifica thought, she peered over at her friends. Gideon had his arms crossed and face shaped in a stubborn pout. The blonde didn’t even have to be near the group to know that her friends were still trying to dissuade him from getting near Mabel Gleeful.

 

Pacifica let out a low sigh as she walked over to aid Tiffany and Annie in their cause.

 

Unfortunately, pretty faces usually didn’t reflect what was hidden inside.  

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Ravi, the reason this asterisk is there is because when I first started watching Gravity Falls (specifically The Inconveniencing) I honestly thought that this was Robbie's name, I was horribly confused for the longest time, so it's a cute little reference for me.
> 
> Also, this chapter took a much darker turn than originally intended. I wanted to try to rewrite it, but I feel like this is showing the twin's progression more. Thanks for reading! I'll try to update again soon. :>  
> P.S. Reviews are appreciated! Your input/feedback means a lot. :')


	5. So Make Up Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely a bit tricky to write, but I had fun nonetheless! At the end waits a surprise for you guys. I figured, this is the Gravity Fall's Fandom, so why not throw some encrypts in there! I won't make them too tricky though and if you can't get it, well, it rhymes with tree and it's not to the left! Hahaha, I wonder if this is how Alex Hirsch feels.  
> Reviews and Criticisms are appreciated. Thanks again, guys! :>
> 
> Anyways, I'll stop blabbing and let you get on with the show!

_Pa-ci-fi-ca._

It was ridiculous how four syllables managed to vex her so.

  _Pacifica._

The way her shimmering blue eyes had widened in surprise at being chosen.

  _Pacifica._

How her lightly glossed lips had parted in glee upon encountering her again.  
  
_Pacifica_.

The change in her expression, one which had instantaneously gone ecstatic to horrified, when she had accidentally spattered juice on her and evoked Grenda's rage.

  _Pacifica._

The manner in which she’d cowered in fear as Grenda loomed over her,  the threat of being beat up and reduced to a pulp almost imminent.

 **_Pacifica_ ** _._

The innocent blonde she'd kissed on the cheek and pushed away before she'd allowed any feelings to develop for her.

 _Feelings? No, I don't have feelings for her. I don't even **know** her. Just because she has unnaturally bright probably bleached blonde hair or eyes as blue as the ocean doesn't mean I_ \- Mabel grimaced. No, that wasn't right.

 

If she had to put her  name as an entry of a dictionary, it’d be something along the lines of...

 

_Pacifica [puh- **sif** -i-kuh] (n.) A  hideously ugly brace face who needs to learn how to read a situation better. Probably very annoying, but with the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever see-_

 

Mabel groaned and rolled over in her bed. No, that was even harder for her to make herself believe and even her own mind had started to betray her.

 

She pulled her pillow over head and growled into it. It was stupid and pointless.

 

There was no way she was infatuated with a breathing one dimensional dumb blonde stereotype.

 

Mabel Gleeful was _not_ gay. There was _no_ way. She had been interested in men her whole life.

 

There'd been Mermando, Gabe Bensen and the boys from that one band she could never remember the name of. Besides, it's not like she could be even if she wanted to, her parents had strictly reinforced her views on relationships.

 

 _Not that there's anything to stray from. I am Mabel Gleeful and that thing with Pacifica was just show business. That's it._ Mabel bit her lip, she groaned in frustration and pressed her face harder against the pillow.

 

There was no way she liked Pacifica. Besides even if she were to theoretically be attracted to her, which she _wasn't_ , there was no way that she'd ever like her back. Not after what she'd done to her.

 

Mabel felt her heart sink.  Once she realized that the reason her stomach felt empty was because she was feeling down, she shook her head furiously in an attempt to dispel it.

 

It was only theoretical. She was _not_ attracted to that stupid girl.

 

In fact, she'd go out and face her to tell her how much she hated her.

 

 _Yes, that seems like a great idea. You can't like someone you hate_. She resolved and smiled.

 

Mabel tossed her pillow to the side and climbed off her bed. There was no point dwelling on the stupid blonde with her goofy grin and sparkling blue eyes.

 

Pacifica would regret ever meeting her. She'd make sure of it.

 

As Mabel rummaged through her closet, there was a soft knock on the door.

 

"Come in, not like I'm naked or anything," she said.

 

The door creaked open and the brunette looked up only to find herself facing her manager. "Oh, good morning to you, Corduroy."

 

The redhead rolled her eyes and pressed something into her chest. Her green eyes met her own and she frowned.

 

"You can't go around being rude to everyone you meet. That poor girl you tormented was kind enough to wash your cardigan," Wendy scolded.

 

She continued her lecture, but Mabel had stopped paying attention to her words. Instead, she stared down at the teal cardigan in her hands.

 

The last time she'd seen it it'd been covered in that disgustingly saccharine drink. Mabel brought it up to her nose and smelled it, there was the faint odor of smoke, but other than that it smelled clean.

 

"I've told you this countless times, Mabel, but someday you're going to find someone special and if you're a jerk, you'll scare them away."

 

Mabel looked up from her cardigan and began to scrutinize Wendy. She figured that the manager was beautiful, any blemishes she had were concealed with a thin layer of makeup. Wendy was always immaculately dressed, her skirt and blazer lacked creases, almost as if she’d taken the time each night to make sure they were ironed out.

 

Wendy had been the one who had taught Mabel the power of concealers and eyeshadow.

 

The skills had proved quite useful and though she’d been annoyed that the manager had been insistent in telling her she would have to learn to do it on her own, it proved to be a blessing.

 

As time passed, Mabel’s constant rebellions had to led to the acquisition of more bumps and bruises which became more difficult to hide. Having mastered the skill of makeup created a wall between her and the world which resulted in a silent ‘don’t see, don’t tell’ barrier.

 

To Mrs. Gleeful, it had seemed that Wendy was the one who'd helped push her down the road ‘to womanhood’, but in reality it was concealing all the dark secrets that resided within the Gleeful Manor.

 

"Did you hear me?" Wendy asked, her voice sharp and growing with irritation.

 

Mabel twirled a strand of loose hair in her finger. She kept her eyes fixated on the floor, a bit disappointed with herself that she’d been caught spacing out.

 

"Yes, yes, if I don't shape up I'll lose love before I find it," Mabel amply replied. She tossed the cardigan onto the floor and sneered up at her. "I don't need it though. I'm not my brother. It’s an unnecessary distraction."

 

Wendy rolled her eyes, she folded her arms and turned away. "Alright whatever, but if the day ever comes, don't come crying to me."

 

No sooner had Wendy taken a step out of the door, Mabel spoke up again.

 

"I won't need to. Love is for the weak."

 

Wendy paused, her head adjusting so she could look at her. Mabel flipped her hair over her shoulder, stood up, and stepped on the cardigan.

 

" _I'm_ driven by hate."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Downtown Gravity Falls was always extremely loud and vibrant.

 

Dipper hated it.

 

The townsfolk would always come up to greet him, seemingly unaware that the glare he was giving them meant that he wanted to be alone.

 

He tightened his grip on his knapsack and trudged toward the pharmacy. He had wanted to buy pain relievers for his headache. That and he figured he should get his caffeine fix. Maybe Mabel had a point, staying up late and barely sleeping was draining him of energy.

 

As he neared the local pharmacy, he could hear the whispers of those who had taken notice of him. It wasn’t like he was blending in either. He was wearing a bright teal pullover and black jeans, though he was positive the latter wasn’t drawing attention to him.

 

Dipper reached to pull the door open, but before he got the chance to, it was pushed open and almost hit him in the face. He staggered backwards and immediately regained his footing so he could glare at the miscreant that had almost injured him.

 

“Oh go-godness, I mean gosh, I’m sorry! I shoulda been more careful but I didn’t see ya prior and oh _God_.”

The boy in front of him continued to babble in his obnoxiously shrill accented voice. Dipper held up his hand and made a fist, he watched as the boy’s mouth snapped close. Sometimes having powers definitely proved to be a bonus.

 

“Whatever, kid. Just don’t kill anyone,” he muttered.

 

The boy’s eyes seemed to widen, meanwhile Dipper’s nose wrinkled in disgust. _There_ was the realization. The boy removed his cap and fanned himself, his pale face which was covered in an unusually large amount of freckles glowing a bright shade of red.

 

“Y-you’re Dipper G-Gleeful,” the boy stuttered.

 

“Yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you,” Dipper uttered bluntly, he hoped his tone would deter the boy from initiating a conversation so he would leave as soon as possible.

 

Instead, The white haired kid had started sweating and for a second, Dipper feared that he might implode from excitement. “A-ah, of course ya wouldn’t know who I am. I-I’m Gideon! Gideon _Pines_!”

 

Dipper suppressed his sneer at the boy’s voice crack. Ah, the early stages of puberty, he’d been lucky that they hadn’t been too harsh on him. Though this kid seemed increasingly sweaty and awkward.

 

“Right, right, Gideon Pi-” He stopped himself and frowned. “You wouldn’t be related to the old man in the Mystery Shack would you?”

 

Gideon rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly nodded. Dipper pursed his lips, perhaps this kid could prove to be useful. He seemed to be a fan of his at least.

 

_Alright, Dipper. Time to put that Gleeful charm to good use._

 

He put on one of his public face smiles, one that had girls swooning when he and his sister were at autograph sessions. The effect it had on Gideon had the young boy fidgeting more than before.

 

“Bud’s actually an old... _friend_. We go back,” he stated.

 

Gideon tugged at the straps of his backpack. He meekly smiled up at Dipper and opened his mouth before shutting it again. Dipper was good at reading body language, so he knew he was hiding something.

 

He focused his energy and tried to nudge his way into the kid’s thoughts. Sure, his eyes would probably be glowing a bit, but it wasn’t like anyone besides his sister understood why.

 

Dipper almost burst into laughter at once Gideon’s first thoughts filtered themselves into his mind.

 

 **_Whoa, his eyes are glowin’! That’s so_ ** _cool **. I wonder if Star’s eyes glow. Maybe I should ask him. What if he thinks it’s weird, though? I mean, well, uh… I could bring up the show! Yes, that seems like a great idea.**_

 

“Uhh, so do you and your sister spend a lot of time preppin’ for yer shows? I went ta’ one the other day and y’all seemed like you knew what you was doin.”

 

**_Okay, great Gideon! That’s a great start!_ **

 

Dipper shrugged, he adjusted his bag and rolled his shoulders back. “Yes, we go through various training routines. We’ve been doing it for years though, so it’s not really an issue.”

 

**_Alright Giddy, you can do this. Now just ask him about Star and then-_ **

 

“I’ve been fixin’ ta go to another show, but I haven’t had the time. Me and my friend Pazzy have been explorin’ the woods a lot! This town is full of weird things!”

 

 ** _That journal sure is somethin’ ...Maybe that’s how I can get them to hang out! The Twins seem like supernatural nerds._** Dipper frowned. **_What if that’s the way to-_**

 

“Gideon! We gotta head back, stop flirting and hurry uuuup!”

 

Both boys turned in the direction of the new voice. Dipper spotted a blonde girl glaring at them by a parked golf cart. Once their eyes met, he saw her eyes narrow, but she was too far for him to try to get a reading on what she was thinking.

 

_This kid keeps blabbing about a journal… Could it be?_

 

Dipper looked at the white-haired boy who looked extremely torn and then kneeled down. He rummaged in his bag for a bit and pulled out a business card.

 

“Listen, I like you, kid. Maybe someday soon, you, me and Mabel can hang out together,” he said as earnestly as he could and held out the card to him.

 

Dipper tried to keep his disgust contained once their hands brushed, Gideon’s had a considerable layer of sweat. He wiped his hand on his pants and threw his bag back over his shoulder.

 

“Wait, so Star’s name really _is_ Mabel? Gee, her name is just as beautiful as her,” Gideon sighed dreamily.

 

Dipper smirked. _Maybe I should be recording this kid. It’ll be proof that people only like Mabel because of her looks._

 

“Yeah, my personal number is on that card. Send me a text and we’ll keep in touch,” Dipper told him.

 

“ _GIDEON.”_

 

“I’m coming, Pazzy! Sheesh!” Gideon shouted back. He gave Dipper a bright smile and waved. “Thanks Dipper! I hope ta’ see you again soon!”

 

Dipper watched him scramble off toward the blonde. He continued listening to his thoughts as he moved away.

 

**_He’s soo cool. I hope I’m like that when I’m older. I don’t get why Pa’ doesn’t like him. Now I’m really thinkin’ I should show him the journal. Maybe he can help me find out why the journal has six fingers and where the other two-_ **

 

Dipper’s polite smile dropped as the boy’s thoughts stopped. His thoughts turning to the book that he had in his backpack. Six fingers...on a journal?

 

He edged a bit closer to the two under the guise of grabbing a newspaper out of one of the bins. The brunet watched Gideon dig into his bag and pull out a familiar looking book. The blonde girl seemed to be yelling at him, but he waved her off.

 

_Well, shit._

 

Dipper tightened his grip on the newspaper and entered the pharmacy. As he stocked up on medicine and cans of monster, a billion thoughts began to formulate in his head.

 

_Maybe your looks will come in handy after all, dear Sister._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  _Thwap._

 

A dart flew from her fingers and just missed the picture she had taped onto the circular board.

 

Mabel wasn’t wearing her headband so her hits were not as accurate or driven.

 

Her brother could easily find her if she was wearing her amulet. This was also why she was in the basement and not locked up in her room, if she was there, it’d be easy pickings.

 

Mabel _especially_ didn’t want him seeing what she was doing, but it was also because if she was going to draw darts at Pacifica’s face, she wanted it be due to her own skill.

 

The brunette fished another dart from the container and glared at the smiling girl’s face. She’d spent half the day agonizing over her and then decided to print a picture from the girl’s _Facebook_ so she could carry out her plan.

 

Though it seemed that this task was more infuriating per every second that passed. Just before she threw it, Mabel would feel her stomach lurch and her hand would adjust at the last second. So far she’d missed at least twenty times.

 

 _Thwap_.

 

Another miss.

 

She scoffed and picked up a towel. And _she_ was supposed to be the twin who was skilled at hand-eye coordination.

 

There was a sharp rap on the door and she tensed. Mabel cleaned her hands and then quickly wiped her face.

 

“Who is it?” She called out.

 

“Mabel, it’s me.”

 

She recognized her brother’s voice and approached the door. She peered up at the clock on her way there and noted that she’d been there for at least three hours. It was definitely a reasonable time for him to have found her, that or the servants had told him where she was.

 

“What do you want, Dipper? I thought I told you not to talk to me unless you’ve napped for at least three days, “she replied, not bothering to hide the hurt in her voice.

 

“I know, I’m sorry. I managed to sleep well last night and I feel a lot better.”

 

Mabel bit her lip, she looked down at the locked door. Would it really be alright for her to forgive him so quickly? After what he’d done to her the other day?

 

_You’re a Gleeful, Mabel. Besides, it’s just Dipper. Not like it’s mom and dad or anything._

 

Mabel unlocked the door and opened it. Her brother gave her a grateful smile, but she examined his face to look for any signs of sleep deprivation. Sure enough he did have bags under his eyes, but they weren’t as bad as they had been a few days ago.

 

“What do you need?” She asked him.

 

Dipper filed into the room and mussed up his hair. He plopped down onto the couch situated in the corner of the room. “I have a favor to ask of you. It’s nothing big and most likely not permanent unless you want it to be.”

 

Mabel rolled his eyes, he just _had_ to make it all mysterious and not be straight to the point.

 

“What is it?”

 

Dipper’s teal eyes peered over at her, he opened his mouth to speak, but then he frowned. “Okay, you’re not wearing your amulet, which makes sense that you don’t want anyone to find you. You look like crap.”

 

Mabel scrunched up her nose, she forced a smile and tried to hide the sick feeling in her stomach.

 

“Anyways, I came here because I met Bud Pines’ kid. Apparently he’s a huge fan of us,” Dipper stated.

 

Her brother fiddled with the pendant around his neck. Mabel folded her arms, a feeling of unease coming over her with the dread of whatever favor he was going to ask her.

 

Dipper and Bud Pines had never gotten along well. In fact, it was because of the old man’s meddling that they’d gotten arrested when they were nine.

 

The townsfolk had been blissfully unaware of the cameras they’d planted everywhere, but once Pines got ahold of the information, he did what he could to try to put them out of business.

 

 _If he hadn’t interfered though, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Maybe Dipper just wants to **thank** him and give him a **gift**_. Mabel thought, a small smirk creeped onto her lips.

 

“If you want me to kill him, I need more time to plot, dear brother,” she said, she leaned up against the wall and looked at him.

 

“Pfft, no, we don’t need to kill him. That’d raise far too many suspicions. Besides, if he’s dead, then we lose Gideon,” he stated.

 

_Gideon? Who the hell is that?_

 

Dipper chuckled, his mouth opening to speak, however, his eyes locked onto something else before he uttered a word. Mabel followed his line of sight and stilled.

 

 _Shit, the dartboard how could I forget?_ Mabel kept her face blank and willed herself to not think about what she’d been thinking earlier. Instead, she examined her fingernails and picked at her cuticles.

 

“Is there anything you want to tell me, sister _dear_?”

 

Mabel scratched away at her nail polish and shrugged. “Nothing that merits a discussion, brother.”

 

Dipper scoffed, she heard the couch cushions shift and knew he had stood up. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see her brother approaching the table of darts. He picked one up and examined it.

 

“Are you sure? Throwing darts at someone’s picture usually _does_ elicit discussions, you know,” he stated casually, but she knew he was trying to wear away her façade.

 

“Okay, that girl’s an irritating little prat. Is that what you want to hear?” She sneered.

 

Dipper held up his hands defensively, his lips quirking into an amused smile. “Okay, okay, no need for the animosity. I was just curious.”

 

Her brother held the dart between his fingertips and examined the picture. “I saw her today now that I think about it.”

 

Mabel’s folded her arms tightly across her chest, her fingernails dug into her skin.

 

“She’s cute, _I guess_. Wasn’t she at our show Friday?”

 

“Yeah, but she cornered me after a party and then had the gall to spit punch all over me,” Mabel hissed.

 

“Hold up, that was the girl in Candy’s video?” Dipper burst into laughter, he doubled over and grabbed at his sides. “Oh _God_ , I should thank her, that was definitely hilarious. Shoot, Grenda was with you right? I’m surprised that poor kid isn’t lying in a ditch by now.”

 

Dipper’s laugh echoed through the room, Mabel’s nails just sank deeper into her skin.

 

“What was that favor you were going to ask, _brother_?” She asked again, she frowned at being unable to hide her irritation, but she didn’t like the tone he was taking.

 

“Oh, right, right. Sorry I just, have you _seen_ the video?”

 

“I lived it,” she bluntly replied.

 

Dipper waved her off and grinned. He tossed the dart into the air and caught it. Her brother aligned his arm and focused on the picture on the wall. “Shame, if you hit it off as well as you had at the show, you’d be a cute _couple_.”

 

 _Shit_.

 

Mabel felt the blood drain from her face, she was so surprised that she didn’t register her nails piercing her skin. She swallowed in order to clear her throat and put on a brave smile.

 

“That was a part of the show, Dipper. You’ve flirted with enough males on stage, have you heard me teasing you about _dating_ any of _them_?” She pointed out, hoping that he couldn’t somehow hear how loud her heart was pounding.

 

Her brother picked at the pointed end of the dart and shrugged. “I would never follow through with any of those plebeians.

  
“Well, neither would I. I have no reason to get attached to anyone I decide to play with.”

Dipper smirked and turned to the dartboard. “And that’s why you’re _perfect_ for the task I’m about to give you.”

“What do you mean?” Mabel’s eyes remained fixed on her brother’s arm. Dipper had raised it and she could see the dart in his hand glowing.

“I’m positive that Pines kid has one of the journals. He was a decent distance away, but come _on_ , he was related to Bud, and books aren’t usually that shade of red,” He said.

“ _Right_ , so what exactly do I have to do with this?”

Dipper reeled his hand back, Mabel only saw the dart in his hands for a second before he threw it as hard as he could.

“Ah, I missed,” Dipper frowned and glared down at his hand. “Simple, you’re going to go on a date with him.”

Mabel raised an eyebrow. “And how exactly would I do that?”

Dipper tossed her his phone. Mabel would have let it drop if she didn’t know that her brother was extremely protective of his belongings.

“He already texted me, so you gotta text him back. The passcode’s 1313. If we get that journal, we can finally get closure, Mabel. All our work will not be in vain.”

“What do I get out of this?” She asked him.

Dipper shrugged and made his way to the door. “Mom and Dad don’t have to know about your little ‘fling’.”

Mabel felt blood rise to her cheeks and she glanced down at his phone. She wanted so desperately to throw it at him and tell him to shove it up his ass, but he had leverage over her. _He_ hadn’t been the one to kiss Pacifica on the cheek. He also had evidence of it.

 _Goddamn it, Candy._ She bitterly thought.

“See you at dinner! I’ve got scheming to do. Should I plan for dinner at Greasy’s or The Club?”

Mabel glared at her brother. Dipper ignored it and chose to walk out of the room.

“ _Damn it.”_

She tossed her brother’s phone at the couch and picked her headband up from the table she had laid it on. Before putting it back on, Mabel stomped over to the table where she had situated the darts.

“This is all _your_ fault!”

She reeled her hand back and focused all her energy on the dart before letting it fly out of her fingers. On its way to the target, she saw that it had been swallowed up in flames.

Mabel watched the dart begin to burn before the ashes hit the floor. Pacifica’s visage smiled brightly at her, almost as if it was mocking her failure.

_I_

The brunette shouted in frustration and ran over to the picture.

_AM._

 

Mabel ripped it off of the dartboard.

 

 **_Not_ ** **…**

 

She tore it into shreds and let them fall onto the floor. Mabel collapsed onto her knees, her hands reaching up to tug at her hair.

 

_My parents cannot find out. They can’t. **Theycan’t**._

 

Mabel grabbed the torn pieces of paper and willed them to burn. When they went up in flames instantaneously, she was fueled by a new drive.

 

The brunette crawled over to the couch where she’d thrown Dipper’s phone and unlocked it. She immediately found Gideon’s text.

 

 **[XXX-XXX-XXXX 7:50 PM: Hey Dipper, it’s Gideon! We met today so I wanted to let u no! :)**   **]**

 

Mabel pulled out her own phone and typed in the boy’s number.

 

_[YYY-YYY-YYYY 8:30 PM: Hello Gideon, this is Mabel. I remember seeing you down at the tent! Now do tell me, would you be interested in going out sometime soon? ;)]_

* * *

**  
BRX DUH VR LQ GHQLDO**

 


	6. To Make It All Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update. I thought that summer time would help me delve into this story again, but I just couldn’t will myself to. It took some time, but I have an idea of how I want to this to go. Thank you for your patience.  
> At the end there’s a cipher, there’s a hint within the story as to what kind it is. Good luck and enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have gone back and edited minor things in previous chapters. For example, the Twins are Seventeen instead of Sixteen. This is not important right now and for the sake of continuity, Pacifica has not ever seen a Unicorn.
> 
> The answer to the previous cryptogram was: YOU ARE SO IN DENIAL

“It just doesn’t make sense.”  


Pacifica grumbled and chewed on her lip, her blue eyes not straying from the shorter boy who was using the reflection in the window to adjust his tie.  She, Robbie, and Gideon were currently in the Mystery Shack.  


Robbie was working his shift perched behind the counter reading some Japanese comic book and Pacifica was just leaning against it. The two had not strayed from their spots in the past two hours. Gideon on the other hand had been pacing by the doorway since noon.  


Robbie turned a page of his book before looking up and acknowledging her comment.  


“It honestly doesn't. The Gleefuls never do anything out of the ordinary unless something is happening and believe me-” Pacifica peered over at him, the cashier closed his book and slammed it on the counter-top. “ _That_ is not normal.”  


Pacifica eyed Gideon nervously. The white-haired boy had told her about his arrangement with Mabel the day before, but it’d been planned at least a few days prior. It wasn’t like she and him were super close, but she’d figured that they’d spent enough time together that he’d at least confide in her a little.  


What ate away at her most was that Gideon had gone and ignored her warnings. She’d told him about what Mabel had done to her, but had an inkling that he’d been stricken by the lovebug and it was too late. Robbie _was_ right though, they’d only known the Gleefuls for a week or so, but she’d been getting nothing but the heebie jeebies from them.  


“Gideon, are you sure you want to do this? You look so sweaty… I’m pretty sure if you lift your arms a waterfall would flow out,” she commented.  


Gideon’s head twisted to see her, he immediately lifted his arms and let out a sigh of relief when he saw he was not in fact spouting waterfalls from his pits. Though he did take notice that he was getting icky and grabbed a folder off of a shelf to fan himself.  


“I’m perfectly alright, Pazzy. N-nothin’ to worry about here,” he answered shakily and smiled at her. Pacifica tried not to cringe at how forced it was.  
  


“Uh-huh, _right_ , and my hair _isn’t_ naturally blonde,” she retorted and folded her arms.  
  


“It isn’t? Well, then it looks like I win that bet with Tambry,” Robbie commented.  
  


“Hey!” Pacifica blushed and glared at him. Robbie smirked and gave her a playful shove.  
 

“Calm down, Southwest, we know that it’s real... _probably_.”  
  


Pacifica rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on Gideon.  
 

He was almost like a statue, a sweaty fidgeting nerve-ridden statue.  
 

Gideon had slicked his hair back into a pompadour. Pacifica had honestly thought it had been a bit too much, but Robbie had told her that it’d probably be better in the end because maybe Mabel would see reason and let him down gently.  
 

“I still think it’s pretty sketchy,” Robbie whispered. Pacifica’s eyes shifted back toward him, he frowned and leaned over the counter so he was closer to her. “If I were you, I’d honestly tail them, but I don’t know how easy it’d be to get into wherever they’re going.”  
 

“I totally get what you mean,” she whispered back.  
 

Pacifica fidgeted with the loose ends of her sweater sleeve. _Come on, Paz, just go over there and comfort him. It’s probably his first date ever and ohmygosh he’s probably terrified because you and Robbie are being total jerkbutts.  
_  

She sighed and pushed her bangs to the side. She hated it when her thoughts were right, Pacifica stepped away from the counter and walked beside her friend.  
 

Gideon was staring down at his phone, his hands were shaking, but he had a hopeful smile on his face. Pacifica wondered what he was thinking about, but instantly felt bad. It wasn’t his fault he was going on a date with Mabel.  
 

It’s not like he knew about her momentary _no_ t-a-crush, she hadn’t even bothered telling Tiffany and Annie about it. Still, there was a strange feeling in her gut about the whole situation and some things just didn’t add up.  
 

“Wanna go outside, Giddy?” She asked him, the boy jumped and looked at her as if she was a ghost.

“O-oh, yeah! It’s kinda stuffy in here,” he mumbled and tugged at his collar to emphasize his point.  
 

The two made their way out of the shack and sat on the porch. Pacifica allowed her legs to dangle from the side while Gideon camped out on the stairs.  
 

“Pazzy, you’re a girl, right?”  
 

Pacifica looked at the younger boy in bewilderment. His eyes widened as he caught what he said and his cheeks went beet red.  
 

“T-that’s not what I meant, I just meant t-that you would know how this works, right? I mean, my momma always told me ta’ be a proper gentleman, but I’m so gosh darn nervous that my mind’s going blank.”  
 

Pacifica smiled at him encouragingly and gently bumped her fist into his shoulder. “Hey, don’t stress too much about it. You’re a swell guy and Mabel would be a total bimbo to not see it. Though don’t be surprised if she doesn’t, those twins are an enigma.”  
 

Gideon smiled back and scratched his nose, Pacifica bit back the urge to go “blergh” when she noticed how drenched he was.  
 

“I guess, yer right, but I know it’ll work out, Mabel’s such a _sweetheart_!" Gideon replied in a sickeningly love-filled voice.  
 

Pacifica looked at him in utter confusion, she opened her mouth to speak, but shut it just as quickly. Had Gideon really not been listening to her rants in the past week? She was sure she’d made enough snide remarks that it should be ingrained in his mind.  
 

“People only seem sweet when you barely know them,” She answered slowly and kept her eyes on him to observe his reaction. Gideon’s eyebrows furrowed, a look of confusion on his face mirrored her own from moments earlier.  
 

“But Dipper seemed like a good fella,” he said. “He even offered to take me around the town.”  
 

“I’m pretty sure that’s just usual celebrity politeness, Gids. I mean, you don’t know the guy. For all we know he and his sister could be like sadistic killers who use the blood of their victims to fuel their powers,” she laughed, but stopped when she saw the white-haired boy shake his head and frown.  
 

“No, I’m a pretty great judge of character. I mean, they can’t be _that_ bad. Gravity Falls is a small town and I’ve seen them being rude to people before.”  
 

Pacifica raised her eyebrows at that.  
 

“Gideon you’ve only been here for a _week_. I’m just trying to watch out for you. You don’t _know_ Mabel. Heck, even _I_ don’t and I’ve lived here longer than you’ve been here!”  
 

Gideon’s face seemed to grow red with anger, he wiped away the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead as he stood up.  
 

“Well, you’ve only known _me_ for a week and what have you done? You almost got me killed by Gnomes on my first day in town!” He shouted.  
 

Pacifica puffed her cheeks up and glared at him.    
 

“That wasn’t on purpose and you know it! I didn’t know they’d come back. _You_ wouldn’t stop talking when I told you to!”  
 

“W-well, y-y-YOU’RE UPSET THAT YOUR CRUSH ON ROBBIE ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE BECAUSE HE’S D- _DATING_ TAMBRY!” Gideon shouted, his voice cracking at the end of his spiel partially ruining the effect.  
 

Pacifica looked at him in indignation. Instead of rejecting his statement, she decided to humour it, maybe then it’d help him understand that people weren’t exactly what they showed at first sight.  
 

“ ** _YUP_** _,_ HOW **_DID_** YOU KNOW? Giddy, you’re **_so_   **smart!” She sarcastically shot back.  
 

“Well, well, well, what have I stumbled upon?”  
 

Pacifica felt her blood boil. She didn’t even have to turn her head to know who it was. She gritted her teeth as Gideon’s anger dissipated and a bright smile lit up his face.  
  


“H-hey, Mabel! Ain’tchya here a bit early?” He excitedly called out and ran down the stairs to greet her.  
 

Pacifica folded her arms tightly around herself, she really didn’t want to acknowledge Mabel’s presence, but she also didn’t want to just leave Gideon alone. With him being angry at her like that, she knew that it would do more harm than good.  
 

“Yeah, I instructed the butler to come early. A Gleeful must always be punctual,” Mabel idly answered him.  
 

“Hehe, I figured, I-I mean because you look so well done, I m-mean dolled up! N-not well done like a steak. I-I’m shocked that you’re not running late,” Gideon shakily remarked. His voice sounded so nerve wracked that Pacifica pitied him a little. “A-ah, actually, I have somethang for ya! I left it in the shack, but I’ll be right out!”  
 

Gideon ran past her and into the shack. Pacifica watched him until his back disappeared into the other room. She could feel Mabel’s eyes on her and while the sensation wasn’t pleasant, it also felt odd.  
 

 _Alright 'Cif, muster your hardest glare. You are not losing to her.  
_  

“Losing? I didn’t know we were playing a game.”  
 

Pacifica tensed and slowly turned her head to face Mabel, the planned out glare forgotten, her expression was that of shock. The brunette was smirking at her, her teal eyes glowed with amusement. Literally.  
 

“Well, Ms. Southwest, I see you’re dressed in your usual raggedy Ann clothes,” Mabel commented, her eyes looking her up and down.  
 

Pacifica glared down at her from her seat on the porch and dug her nails into her folded arms.  “ _Well,_ I see _you’re_ wearing-”  
 

She paused and examined Mabel’s outfit. Surprisingly, she wasn’t wearing her headband since her hair was done up in a bun plait. Instead, her amulet had been placed on a chain and was being worn as necklace.  
 

Mabel wore a black (probably) designer chiffon skater dress and black suede pumps. Had it been anyone else but her, she would have been gushing at the fact that even the tiny teal designer handbag complimented the outfit perfectly.  
 

However this was Mabel and Mabel was a poophead.  
 

Pacifica bit her lip and resumed her death stare. If anything, the other girl’s smile grew more amused. For a moment Pacifica feared that she was reading her thoughts.  
 

 _Well, I mean the only way for her to have known what I was thinking would have been to read them. What if she’s reading them right now? Should I test her? What if I think of something embarrassing? Like the time I was so excited about the edible glitter that I ate the whole container straight up and puked glitter for a good few days. Ugh, that was gross, wait, mind no, **shoot**.  
_  

Pacifica heard a muffled snort and her face released the glare. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment as Mabel burst into laughter.  
 

“Oh my _God,_ and just when I thought you couldn’t get more pathetic… You really are full of surprises, Southwest,” she laughed. It was such a shame that it was so melodic and beautiful, Mabel was such a jerk.    
 

_Well, at least the mind reading’s been confirmed. Where’s Gideon anyway? Did he fall in the toilet again? Crap, no-_  
  


“Ah, I’m back!”  
 

Speaking of the devil, Pacifica looked at him and then at Mabel. The girl had turned around and was covering her mouth with her hand to keep herself from laughing out loud. Gideon looked between them, his eyes meeting her own in explanation, she merely shrugged and tried to keep her mind blank.  
 

Gideon shrugged and walked back down the stairs. Once he reached Mabel, he handed her a small box. The brunette didn’t take it at first until he nudged it into her arms.  
 

“I hope ya like it!” Gideon blushed and shyly smiled.  
  


“Thanks,” Mabel said as she took it. She smiled back at him, maybe Gideon hadn’t noticed, but Pacifica realized that it didn’t reach her eyes.  
 

“Alright then, let’s go, Pines. We’re going to The Club and you look like you clean up.” Her eyes disinterestedly seemed to take in the boy’s sweaty figure and Pacifica’s heart sank for him. “Moderately at least, but it’s good enough. Let’s go.”  
 

Gideon nodded excitedly and peered back at her when Mabel turned to walk toward the limo. Pacifica jumped off of the porch and met him at the base of the stairs.  
 

“Look, Giddy. Just be careful. I’m sorry if I offended you, I just want what’s best for you,” she told him.  
 

Gideon rubbed the back of his head and smiled. “I understand, I’m sorry, Pazzy. It was my fault too, I shouldn’t have blown up on ya. You’ve been nothin’ but nice ta’ me.”  
 

“Awkward friend hug?” She asked him as she spread her arms out.  
 

“Awkward friend hug,” Gideon conceded and stepped toward her to complete it.  
 

“ _Gideon,_ I am not going to wait forever!”  
 

The two of them pulled away and faced Mabel. She was standing beside the open limo door, her face was scrunched up with irritation. Gideon nodded his goodbye and ran toward her. The moment he reached her side, Mabel basically shoved him into the car.  
  


Before Mabel went in, she glared at her, the intensity of which surprised Pacifica. The door to the limousine closed and as it went on its way she couldn’t help but be befuddled by what had just happened.  
 

 **_“Yeah… it was pretty strange, h-huh?”  
_**  

Pacifica looked over at the blue triangle and then back to the road where the limo had disappeared.  
 

“It was, honestly I don’t understand what her deal is- Wait LLIB?!”  
 

She jumped away from the triangle, he looked at her in concern and reached out to her. **_“Is everything alright, Llama? I hope I didn’t scare you.”  
_**  

 _If he’s here that means it wasn’t a dream. I didn’t imagine it. It was real.  
_  

 ** _“Of c-course it wasn’t a dream! Silly kid, you h-humans nowadays are so forgetful,”_** Llib said.  
 

“Haha, right… what’s up, Llib?”  
 

 ** _“You know, j-just visiting a friend!”_** The triangle softly chimed and floated over to pat her on the head.  
 

“Llib…?”  
 

 **_“Hm, was that too much? I”m sorry, I won’t-”  
_**  

“No! No, it’s alright!” Pacifica interrupted him, she eyed the blue triangle whose eye had gone teary and smiled encouragingly. “It’s definitely fine. I just … You told me to be wary of the Gleefuls, right?”  
 

Llib stroked the area where his chin would theoretically be and stood still for a moment. His eye widened with realization and he raised his hands as he spoke.  
 

 ** _“A-h, yes! They’re tricky ones who always h-have reasons for everything!”_** he cheerily replied.  
 

Pacifica pulled at the bottom of her sweater. She exhaled exasperatedly and turned back to the triangle.  
 

“Mabel asked Gideon out on a date, but I know for a fact that she didn’t even meet him until like today. Well, not officially, she may have seen him once or twice, but-”  
 

 **_“Yup, you’re right!”  
_**  

Llib floated over the stairs and lowered himself so he could sit on them. **_“Shooting Star and Pentagram h-have never met until today. The Gleefuls are involved in something dangerous and if you're not c-careful you'll be dragged into it. Something H-HUGE is going to happen in this town really soon. S-something that’ll turn it upside down! They’ll be the ones to orchestrate it.”  
_**  

Pacifica bit her lip and approached the dream guardian. He seemed completely nonchalant about the fact that he’d told her something this big. Pacifica wasn’t necessarily sure how to process the info.  
 

“Can’t you… stop it? Like, is there anything you can do?” She plopped down next to Llib. The triangle sighed and shook his body.  
 

 ** _“I’m afraid that won’t do. I can’t directly participate in events t-that’ll direct the future unless I am meant to be a part of it!”_** He stated, his upper half folded slightly and he placed his hands on his ‘cheeks’.  
 

"Well that stinks. So we're just waiting for the end of the world," Pacifica grumbled.  
 

 _And my birthday is supposed to be at the end of the summer too. This totally stinks.  
_  

 ** _"Yeah, b-but it's alright!_** " Llib floated up from his spot and flew in front of her. **_"Let's get off this d-depressing topic! Did you know that there are unicorns deep in the forest?"  
_**  

Pacifica eyed the triangle warily before waving him off. "Come on, Llib, even I'm not childish enough to believe in them. Faeries on the other hand, those I dig."  
 

 **_"Faeries you say? O-ohh I know where the next set are going to be b-born! The area is really pretty if you want to c-check it out now though!"  
_**  

"Wait, really?" Pacifica asked and the top of Llib’s triangle head folded over slightly in order to recreate a nod. She stood up and walked down to the bottom of the steps.  
 

"Alright, Llib, let's see these Faeries!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The clamor and banter within The Club was irritating.  
  


The only reason Dipper had agreed to tag along and observe how the date played out was because Wendy told him they'd need to be ready for damage control.  
 

That and it looked like he was on a date with the manager, so that was a pleasant bonus.  
 

Dipper rifled through his menu, it was the typical high class meals that he usually abstained from. He figured he'd indulge in a lobster or even a steak since he ate too richly at home to be able to fully enjoy something else. He peered up at Wendy who was taking a sip of wine and also perusing through the menu.  
 

Who would have thought that acting as a matchmaker would let him go on a date with the girl of his dreams? _At least there's one thing Mabel is useful for... Speaking of which…  
_  

He glanced over at his sister and the Pines boy. He had tried to avoid doing this when they had arrived because he could easily note how impartial his sister was with the boy. Luckily for him, Gideon was a persistent little git.  
 

 _That and the kid has his charms so I'll give him that. I just hope it's enough to woo my sister even a little. I need more information on that journal of his.  
_  

“Have you thought about anything you want yet, Dipper?” Wendy asked him.  
 

Dipper peered over at her from the top of his menu, a part of him wished he could just say what was on his mind, which was along the lines of _“I’d have you any day, m’lady, even now in front of all these people”,_ but he had to refrain himself so he shook his head.  
 

“I’m thinking of getting the Grilled quail and foie gras,” she told him as she put her menu down and reached for her phone.  
 

Dipper took a glance at where she’d left hers open and flipped to it on his.  
 

 _Hmm, perhaps that’d be ideal. It would be something different and maybe this can be one of those times that I impress her with my knowledge. I can’t have her being glued to that electronic device all night. That would be a complete waste.  
_  

“Grilled quail and foie gras, huh?” Dipper smiled, he pulled out a small notepad from his pocket along with a pen. He wrote the word out on the notebook and peered up at Wendy who was eyeing it semi-curiously. “Did you know that with the use of a substitution cipher I can turn this word into a completely unrecognizable one but have it mean the same thing?”  
 

Wendy smirked and placed her phone down onto the table. Step one was a success, he had her attention.  
 

“Okay, so…”He bit his lip as he thought out which code would work great as a sample. The Caesar wasn’t as quick to grasp, but he also didn’t want to bore her. His eyes lit up when he thought up a simple enough one that would prove to be easy to transcribe and explain. “Alright, so I’m going to write the translated word now.”  
  


[ _Tiroovw jfzro zmw ulrv tizh._ ]  
  


“Alright, if you look at that word,  it looks like complete gibberish, but it also means Grilled quail and foie gras. However, if you count it, it has the same number of letters and the order of the words is still the same! It’s actually a secret code, more specifically it’s the A-” He began to explain, but paused when he saw that Wendy was no longer looking at him, but somewhere to his left.  
  


Dipper shut his mouth and frowned. He already knew where she was looking, for a moment he’d almost forgotten that they were here because of his sister’s date. He peered over at the two _lovebirds_ and saw that they’d received their meal.  
 

Gideon was still as peppy as ever, though _Heaven_ _knows_ what in the world possessed him into thinking that hairstyle looked _good_. He had to applaud his sister for not visibly cringing at the sight. She always had been the better actress.  
 

The waiter had just walked over to take their orders when Dipper felt his sister’s presence in the back of his mind.  
 

 **_Hey, brother?  
_**  

He told the waiter that he’d just have what Wendy was having and placed his chin on the palm of his hand.  
 

 _What do you want? Aren’t you **enjoying** your **date**? _ He tried to suppress his amusement at the amount of snark he’d imbued.  
 

There was a moment of silence from his sister’s end, he tilted his head back and saw that she was looking straight at him. She was currently alone, so he figured that Gideon had gone to the bathroom or something.  
 

 ** _Can this be over soon? People are starting to gawk and I know the gossip is going to begin sooner or later_**.  
 

True to her word, no sooner had Dipper’s eyes moved from his sister he noticed that a group of nuns seated near her were blabbing amongst each other.  
 

 **Such a cute young couple. Isn’t that the Gleeful girl? A blessing on their ends, may the Lord bless their hearts. I cannot believe it, at her age I was busy milking cows, not** _dating_. SoadoramuchcuteIcanbelievehowsweetsheisbeautifulhelookssoyoung.  
  


Dipper pinched his nose to keep from listening further and took a deep breath. It was taking every fiber in his being to keep from walking over and yelling at them for being so unnecessarily chatty in their thoughts. They were so sickeningly sweet that it was disgusting.  
  


“Deep breath in, then slowly exhale, it’ll help you in the long run,” Wendy told him.  
  


Dipper squeezed his hands into two tight fists and closed his eyes. He did as Wendy told him and rolled his shoulders back. It figured that the stress-laden manager would be the one to help him calm down, it was a reason he admired her so.  
 

“What’s going on with your sister? She keeps looking over here.”  
 

The male twin bit back a growl, if Mabel could just suck it up and enjoy her date, then her problem would be resolved. There was no reason for him to tell their parents about the stint with that blonde girl, but if she was going to be stubborn, he knew he had no choice but to use it. It wouldn't be a deal if his sister didn't keep up her side of the bargain.  
 

“She doesn’t want people to gossip and wants to go home,” he told her and reached for his glass of water so he could take a sip.  
 

Wendy furrowed her eyebrows and peered up from her phone. “I thought _she_ asked him out?”  
 

“Yes, but it’s more of a business deal. If Mabel sidles in with Gideon, we can work to get the Shack.” _There’s no need to mention the journal to Wendy.  
_  

Wendy’s eyes widened at that, her mouth parting into a small o.  
 

“Gideon? Gideon Pines? No wonder he looked familiar!” She chuckled and flashed Dipper a bright grin that sent a jolt of butterflies through his stomach and a rush through the lower region of his body. “If you two can work on that, we can run your competition into the ground or work out some deal where he can finally butt out.”  
 

Dipper grinned back, a part of him was glad he’d done this, if he got to see that beautiful smile again, he definitely would not mind it.  
 

“Yes, that’s right. If I could just get Mabel to properly use her seductress power it would be easier, but she’s being difficult,” he explained.  
  


“Your sister’s getting to that age where it’s either love or lust, I’m sure I can talk some sense into her,” Wendy said in response.  
  


**_Brother, I know you’re having the time of your life over there, but can’t I just dump this kid? I see no point in this venture whatsoever.  
_**  

Dipper almost choked on the sip of water he’d taken and whirled around to glare at his sister. She was currently laughing at something the younger boy had said, but he knew her practiced responses well enough to know it was fake.  
 

 _Don’t forget that you **owe** me. If you don't make this believable, I have leverage over you. You are not backing out of this, dear sister.  
_  

Mabel stopped laughing and frowned, her eyes met his, but only for a fraction of a second, then her seasoned television smile was back.  
 

“Is she doing alright?” Wendy asked.  
 

“Don’t worry about it, Wendy,” he told her, as he straightened up in his seat, he saw the waiter approaching. “We’ll talk to her when this is all over with.”  
 

The man placed their plates of food down in front of them and refilled Wendy’s glass of wine before taking his leave. Dipper wrinkled his nose in disgust, he didn’t even know what quail was, but once he saw Wendy enjoying it, he sighed and decided to dig in.  
 

He figured that one gag worthy meal was worth it if it meant showing Wendy that he was a grownup like her too. _You’re just seventeen, Dipper. One more year and you can legally be with her._  
  


With that thought in mind, he cut a piece of quail and shoved it in his mouth.  
 

After trying some of the sauce and rolling it around a bit with his tongue, he decided he really didn’t like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World We’re From

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Finally ending the train crash of a date felt like a blessing to Mabel.  
  


Not once in her life had she ever had to deal with such a blubbering sweaty oaf of a child. It wasn’t that Gideon was a bad kid, he just would _not_ shut up. She had reached the point of not caring when her brother had started acting like his regular douche self.  
 

It had taken all her self-restraint to keep her from yelling at him and telling him that he was not there with Wendy to be on a date. She’d hoped that he’d understand her pain, but he was so infatuated with the redhead manager, that he’d ignored her for the most part.  
  


In the limo, the elder twin sat with a half-asleep Gideon beside her. Though this development was because she’d instructed the waiter to add some sleeping medicine into his food. The man had been uncomfortable, but she’d tipped him well enough to keep him silent.  
 

Every time the white-haired boy leaned in her direction, she used her amulet’s power to nudge him toward the window.    
 

Mabel leaned up against her side of the limo, she pressed herself against it as much as possible to maintain a distance between them. The ride was peaceful and she even took her shoes off to help her aching feet.

   
To be frank, her brother had chosen her outfit for her. He’d dug into the younger boy’s thoughts for it and she did not necessarily appreciate knowing that she’d essentially been molded to be the girl of his dreams.  
 

The faint tunes of the radio hummed in the background as the limo left the center of Gravity Falls to enter the woods that would lead to the Shack. Once it pulled up in front of the building, she forced herself to reach out and shake Gideon awake.

   
“H-huh? W-wha, o-oh we’re back! Oh gosh, I’m sorry I fell asleep!” Gideon stammered. It was dark, but even then she could see the scarlet glow of his cheeks contrast his pale skin.  
  


“Don’t worry about it, kiddo. It happens to the best of us,” she told him and offered him a chillingly sweet smile. She was already bored with him, there wasn’t much he could provide for her that she couldn’t get herself.  
 

Gideon opened the limo door and walked out, he fiddled with his coat and smiled shyly at her. “W-well, um, I’d like ta’ do it again soon, if that’s alright with you.”  
 

Mabel’s eyes widened for a second, she licked her lips and peered off to the side. She knew that somewhere in the distance her brother and Wendy were most likely watching.  
 

“Of course,” she told him and flashed him a coy grin. “That’d be... _wonderful_.”  
 

“A-alright, should I call you or…?”  
 

Mabel pursed her lips and adjusted herself in the seat. She waited in hopes of her brother possibly filling in the gap, but to no avail.  


“I’ll be in touch,” she answered.  
 

Gideon flapped his arms by his sides momentarily once she responded. She narrowed her eyes at that, the boy was looking even sweatier than he had a few seconds ago. What exactly was he thinking?  
 

Mabel focused her thoughts on his and just managed to catch onto what he was thinking.  
 

 ** _Alright, Gideon, you can do it. Just three, two...  
_**  

 _Three, two… wha-  
_  

Her eyes widened in horror when Gideon leaned in and mashed his lips against hers. She felt her nose wrinkle involuntarily, the pungent odor of axe mingled ever so _wonderfully_ with adolescent sweat, she had to hold her breath to keep from puking.  
 

One second passed, then three, and five. It felt like almost forever had passed, as if the boy wasn’t sure what to do. Mabel pulled away first, momentarily amused by the dazed look on his face until she remembered that it was _he_ who had kissed _her_.  
 

There was something about the situation that made her feel... _violated.  
_  

“I-I, well, good night, Mabel! Talk ta’ ya later!”  
 

The boy stumbled away, his foot slipping on a soft patch of dirt. He caught himself before he fell and ran toward the Shack. No sooner had he opened the door to the building, Mabel closed hers and heard the muffled sound of one opening behind her.  
 

“So how _was_ it?” She heard Wendy ask.  
 

Mabel pushed past the redhead and shoved her brother, who had been about to enter, out of the way. Dipper called out after her as she ran into the woods and leaned her hand up against a tree.  
 

It was _her_ who was in control. Not Gideon, not her brother, _her_. She angrily wiped at her mouth as angry tears slid down her cheeks.  
 

The soft footsteps approaching from reminded her that she wasn’t alone. She sniffed and tried to regain her composure. That is until she went her arm get yanked and she was forced to face her furious twin.  
 

“What the _hell_ was that, Mabel? You couldn’t _wait_ until he was actually in the Shack?” Dipper seethed.  
 

“I just- I,” Mabel shakily inhaled and jerked her arm out of her brother’s grasp. “I just need some fresh air, it _reeked_ in the limo.”  
 

She sneered in hopes of getting her brother to agree or something, but his face remained eerily blank. Wendy tumbled into the scene a few moments later using her phone as a flashlight.  
 

“You two can’t just run away, I had to tell the chauffeur to move the limo. That AND you’re in the fucking _woods_ at _night_. I know you have powers or whatever, but if anything happens, then _I’m_ the liable one,” she scolded them.  
 

Dipper pouted and moved closer to Wendy. Mabel looked between the two of them and felt her stomach sink. Her brother glared at her and wagged an accusing finger her way. “Mabel’s not cooperating with the plan. She _owes_ me, Wendy. She can’t even do me this one little favor.”  
 

Wendy’s green eyes trained themselves on her, the elder twin tried to fight the nausea. Her brother was playing the favorite card that he usually used on their parents, while Wendy was _obviously_ not her mother, it was true that she spent a lot more time with him.  
 

“Wendy, look I’m-” Mabel started until she saw Wendy raise her hand in a halting manner.  
 

“Look, Mabel. I’m not here to force you into doing anything you don’t want to do. It’s also not your brother’s job to force you. We’ll only go through with this if you want to, if not, then you can end it here,” Wendy told her, her voice was calm, but deep down Mabel already knew that she’d be disappointed if she didn’t agree.  


Mabel looked between her brother and the manager. They were eyeing her so intently that it was making her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to deal with this, she had to go swallow a bottle of mouthwash or even soap.  


_You could back out now, Mabel. You **don’t** have to do this…_    


**_But_ ** _Star_ _could do it. Then Dipper won’t tell mother and father about Pacifica…_  


“GIDEOOON, ARE YOU HOMEEE?”  


Mabel’s eyes flickered upward, the voice was faint since they were in the woods, but she knew that there was no mistaking it. A mix of anger and warmth surged through her, somewhere in the other side of the woods, Pacifica was with Gideon.  


There was no way she was letting them be so close.  


“Alright.”  


Mabel whipped out her phone and quickly texted the white-haired boy. Moments later, the trio could hear loud cheering in the distance.  


Wendy walked over to ruffle her hair, she offered her an encouraging smile. “Hope you made the right choice, Mabel. You can always back out when you want to.”  


The redhead pulled away at her lack of a response and gestured toward a path. “The limo should be 500 feet this way, come on, let’s get you two home.”  


“You can go on, Wendy, we’ll catch up to you in a bit,” Dipper told her.  


Mabel hugged herself, the woods were chilly and she was still just in her dress, her shoes had been tossed aside in the car, so she could feel the cool dirt on her feet. She felt something cold slip onto her back and realized her brother had placed his jacket on her.  


“I’m proud, Mabel. I know I don’t say it enough, but thank you,” he said softly. Dipper smiled at her, the sight felt like seeing the sun after numerous rainy days, it almost brought her to tears.  


“No worries, brother. I mean, that’s what siblings are for, right?” She weakly replied as to not show her fault in emotion.  


It was such a sappy scene, she hoped that maybe they could reconvene and go back to their less strained relationship of a week prior. She knew it had all started with Gideon, so maybe if she worked fast enough, she could snatch the journal before he noticed. Mabel closed her eyes and replayed the kiss.  


_Just do it to get things back to normal, Mabel. Don’t be Mabel, be **Star**. _ Her eyes flickered open, only to find her brother with his scheming smirk on his face.  


Any sentimentality in the moment was butchered when her brother spoke again.

“Come on, we’ve got work to do. I have to plan your next outfit, which means I need to figure out how to get close to Gideon. That’s where your job comes in, the more you hang out with him, and the more you can read his thoughts. We’ll get his journal yet!”  


Dipper took off after Wendy leaving her standing there barefoot in a dress she’d never chosen and a borrowed coat. She glanced back at the Mystery Shack and felt her heart pang.  


She wondered if in the universe where she and her brother lived in the Mystery Shack their relationship was this broken.  


Mabel bitterly laughed to herself and wiped away a loose tear that slid down her cheek. She slid her arms into the jacket and took after the others.  


There was no way of ever knowing. After all, the vision they’d received back then had been just that, a dream.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HLNVLMV SVOK GSVHV XSROWIVM
> 
> \-------------  
> Also, this is similar to Mabel's wearing during the date: http://ak2.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/cid/61597443/id/enY-TtA-SfC03tav6kroZw/size/y.jpg

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated. Have a nice day!


End file.
